How The Man-Eating Tapeworm Killed My Plot by Sandra Ruttan

Award-winning author Sandra Ruttan had her first newspaper column at the age of 13. In her past lives she’s worked in customer service, as a baker’s assistant, in shipping and receiving in a hardware store, as a hotel front desk clerk, ice cream scooper, school photographer and receptionist. For the past eleven years her focus has been on education. She’s worked for early intervention programs, implementing speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy exercises with students, as a kindergarten assistant, and as an aide in an ED program.

When she’s not busy writing she has her hands full with her partner, two step children, as editor-in-chief of Spinetingler Magazine, and reviewing for several print and online magazines.


The third book in her Nolan, Hart and Tain thriller series, LULLABY FOR THE NAMELESS, hit store shelves in December and has been called “a vivid noir portrait.” Her website is www.sandraruttan.com

Mo shares Sandra's Office and helps plot the next thriller

How The Man-Eating Tapeworm Killed My Plot by Sandra Ruttan


“There it is! Schoom schoom schoom.”

I’m not sure what surprised me most; that the play guns sounded so weird through the floor boards or that the kids were playing X-Files.

Yes, X-Files.

Did you have the same experience I did as a child, discovering the wonder of losing yourself in the pages of a book, being so completely immersed in that world that you didn’t want to leave it? For me, it was Narnia and The Great Brain, countless books about horses that somehow saved children’s lives, and The Call of the Wild. The neighbor’s granddaughter and I spent summers mushing through the woods behind my house, traveling across the Yukon in our fantasies.

And my kids are downstairs, playing X-Files.

On the surface, that might seem sad. My play was inspired by books, and theirs stems from a TV show that many might not even think they’re old enough to watch, but there’s a reason we started letting them watch selective episodes.

It all started when Brian and I took the kids to a, ahem used book sale. Patrick stumbled across a book he wanted. Now, Patrick hasn’t been the easiest reader. Oh, he can read fine, but he wasn’t in to it the same way his sister was. It was always easier to find something she liked. Patrick’s always been fussier.

But for 50 cents, it wasn’t much of a risk. The book of scary stories came home, and instead of having a partner who had his nose in a book at the dinner table, I started having kids who were more focused on reading than eating. Predictably, the book caused fights, and we had to track down more.

Then, Brian and I stumbled across a garage sale. A tower of used Goosebumps books, 60 in all, for less than a dollar a piece. Sold.

The kids now have a bookshelf six shelves high, filled with their horror collection.

After watching a few of the Goosebumps shows on DVD, we realized they weren’t bothered by the scary stuff. We picked one of the monster X-Files episodes – the one about Big Blue, the prehistoric lake monster – and let them watch it. That episode led to The Ghosts That Stole Christmas, the one about the haunted house. And from there it’s been monsters and aliens steadily ever since.

Despite all that, I have to say I was a bit surprised when I sat working on a manuscript and could hear the kids playing X-Files beneath me. Our girly-girl to the extreme, who lives in shades of pink and has her Barbies set up on a fashion runway, designs clothes and sings Taylor Swift songs in the shower is running around the house with a gun in her hand, chasing a man-eating tapeworm.


As I’ve watched her interest in the show grow, I’ve actually found myself wondering if our little fashionista might end up pursuing a career in law enforcement one day. Six months ago I would have thought anyone who suggested it was crazy. Now… I realize it may just be a little blip on the radar, but she’s more interested than I expected.

The funny thing is, when they started blazing through the Goosebumps books, I was happy they’d found something they liked so much, but just a wee bit disappointed that it was horror. Weren’t the kids going to grow up to share the love of crime fiction Brian and I both have? Now, I’ve got kids playing X-Files and Bry squealed with glee when she found Nancy Drew books under the Christmas tree.

As I’m working on a manuscript that I’d actually tried to partially pre-plot, it’s taken my kids to remind me of why it is I never could write character bios before I started a project. Nobody starts off fully formed. In the same way that we have to spend time with someone to really get to know them, I find I have to spend some time with my characters in the story to see them clearly. Others can get to know them before they type the first words. For me… it’s just never worked that way.

Sometimes, I’m jealous of the people who can pre-plot, who can see the end from the beginning when they start writing their stories. Me? I guess have to endure the roller-coaster ride, the uncertainty and the surprise all the way through the story with my characters. It took a TV show that’s inspired the kids’ play to remind me why.

But, like my own games as a youth, this is a journey that, for them, started with books.

Fantastic Female Film Characters by L. J. Sellers

L.J. Sellers is an award-winning journalist, editor, novelist, and occasional standup comic based in Eugene, Oregon. She writes the Detective Wade Jackson mystery series. Two are in print, The Sex Club and Secrets to Die For, and two more will be published soon: Thrilled to Death and Passions of the Dead. A standalone thriller, The Baby Thief, will be released in 2011. When not plotting murders, L.J. enjoys cycling, social networking, attending mystery conferences, and editing fiction manuscripts.
































Fantastic Female Film Characters
by L. J. Sellers

With the Oscars on the horizon, it seems everyone is thinking about movies. So I asked Professor Kathleen Rowe Karlyn, a film studies expert, to share her top ten female film characters. As the author of The Unruly Woman: Gender and the Genres of Laughter, Kathleen is drawn to “independent women who hold their ground.” This list she says, “represents the range of ways strong and interesting women can appear in film and on TV.”

1. Charlotte Vale, played by Bette Davis in Now Voyager (1945). “Davis plays a character of great dignity and strength who demonstrates a woman’s capacity for self-realization. Her character overcomes great challenges, and her transformation is inspiring. This a classic in the genre of women’s weepies.”

2. The titular characters Thelma and Louise (1991), played by Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon. “This film is historically important. It’s shocking how much controversy there was when it first came out. I teach this film all the time, and even my male students are blown away by it. It’s a love story between women. It’s about girlfriends who put each other first and take care of business.”

3. Jean Harrington, played by Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve (1941). “Stanwyck played wonderful characters in all genres but I’m especially fond of romantic comedy and this is my favorite one. It’s literary, sophisticated, and funny. Stanwyck is smart, cool and sexy, and runs circles around Henry Fonda. She’s also vulnerable, but gets what she wants in the end.”

4. Mother and daughter characters, Rose and Loretta Castorini, played by Olympia Dukakis and Cher in Moonstruck (1987). This is one of the few films that show a strong mother­–daughter relationship. It has an intelligent script and a superb score that pulls together the operatic passions of romance and sex with a wry comedy. It has a wonderful sense of female power and solidarity, but also has loving men who adore these women.”

5. Antonia (1995) played by Willeke van Ammelrooy in Antonia’s Line. “I adore this movie. Antonia is a formidable figure of strength, a matriarch of heroic proportions. The film is about building a community based on feminist values and strong women. It’s inspiring, epic, wise, and brave—a utopian film about the power of women’s connections across time.”

6. Agrada, played by Antonia San Juan in All About My Mother. “Agrada is a transgendered woman who adores the pleasures of being a woman but does not give up aspects of her masculinity. She is the soul of generosity and sophistication in a film that is filled with extraordinary female characters. Agrada embodies the pleasures of femininity in its construction. It’s about how we make ourselves in the image of our own fantasies.”

7. Vanessa Lutz, played by Reese Witherspoon in Freeway (1996). “Freeway is a pulp version of Little Red Riding Hood. It’s a bad B movie, but it took my breath away the first time I saw it. Reese Witherspoon plays the biggest badass little girl you have ever seen. She is one of the fiercest female characters I’ve ever seen on film. It’s my favorite action movie for girls.”

8. Nora, played by Brooke Adams, in Gas, Food Lodging (1992). "Brooke Adams plays a single mother doing her best to raise two impossible teenage girls while also taking care of herself. This film is a beautifully realized portrait of a working class mother trying to do the right thing. It’s the daughter’s film, but it has one of the best mothers on screen—stoic, philosophical, poignant, and funny."

9. Hwei-Lan Gao played by Joan Chen in Saving Face (2004). “This wonderful romantic comedy is set in a Chinese American community in New York. Chen and her adult daughter break serious cultural taboos about sexuality and gender. Both of these women are unruly to the max. The daughter is gay, and the mother is a widow who gets knocked up, and I love it because these are things you don’t normally see in the movies.”

10. Roseanne (1988-1997), played by Roseanne Barr in the TV series of the same name. “She’s not a movie star, but she’s a giant in popular culture, and I built the first phase of my academic career around her. She’s the ultimate unruly woman who breaks all the rules and remakes herself at will. Her legacy is enormous.”

A Gift

You know how some days just gloriously start out "just right." Today is one of those days thanks to my friend Ingrid. I sent Ingrid a birthday wish and she sent me this poem, which I love. It started my day with a smile and a new poet, L. B. Thompson, I'm anxious to learn more about. I'm still searching for more, but what's I've found so far can be found here - http://www.wellesley.edu/WomensReview/archive/2004/11/poetry.html - where you can read some of her work in addition to a few others.

And I share the gift with you . . . enjoy.

Ingrid may have started a lovely new trend of "giving" on your birthday, rather than "receiving." What do you think?

Variation on a Theme by King David

Praise to you!
Praise to you my snappy love!

Praise you in clean socks on a Queens-bound
train; praise you
for your famous avocado
sandwiches; Praise you from Brooklyn to blasphemy!

I've called the mayor to praise you; & a third-
base coach; even
that no-neck accountant
who doesn't have the decency to nod hello
has agreed to praise you!

Praise you with bongos and fine fancy
tea; praise you
with rhumba, tango & marmelade; praise
you with your knickers at your knees!

I praise you on Flag Day, & on whichever equinox
allows for the balancing of eggs;
I praise you with eggs!
Brown ones & jumbo & Faberge Tiffany blue!

On the white of your wrist I praise you;
on the vaccuumed throw rug; I praise you full-
page on Sunday! With faxes
& foxgloves & brushed cotton sheets;
with sky-write & timbrel &

wink! Let every soul
in the Battery Tunnel honk
her horn to praise you! Praise you
with ripe limes & wrestling mats;
praise you tax-free with agates and tin foil
& all sparkly things!

Praise you with foggy spectacles and Wisconsin green cheese!
Praise you to the afternoon of orthopedic sneakers;
praise you from poinsettia to piccolo!
Praise you & praise you & praise you!

My love,
from Brooklyn to blasphemy I praise you!

--L. B. Thompson

A Trip to Boone by Elizabeth Zelvin

Elizabeth Zelvin is a New York City psychotherapist who writes mysteries about recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler and his friends. The new one, DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM, is in stores now. The first was DEATH WILL GET YOU SOBER. The series includes three published short stories, one nominated for an Agatha award. Liz’s author website is www.elizabethzelvin.com. She blogs on Poe’s Deadly Daughters.

(where Liz does her writing)

A Trip to Boone by Elizabeth Zelvin

Everybody on DorothyL, where I met Kaye Barley, knows that Kaye lives on a mountaintop in Boone. I don’t know why I assumed she lived in Kentucky, unless it’s the legendary Daniel Boone’s connection with that state. There’s a Boone County, Kentucky, but no town of that name. Nope, our Kaye lives in Boone, North Carolina, one of my favorite states and one that nowadays is chock full of writers. It’s in the mountains at the western end of the state, around two hours’ drive from Asheville and twenty minutes or so from Blowing Rock.

I got this straight after a couple of North Carolina writer friends, Maggie Bishop and Schuyler Kaufman, got me invited to Boone to speak to a group called High Country Writers in November, during my tour of North Carolina to promote my new mystery, DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM. It was a flying visit—is there any other kind on a book tour?—and Kaye, as it happened, was slated to be out of town for the twenty-four hours I was there. But more than thirty writers showed up to hear me talk about how to write about social issues—without getting preachy.

I write about recovery from alcoholism and codependency—or in the vernacular, booze and bad relationships, which I’m sure are as endemic in North Carolina as in my own New York or anywhere else on the planet. Social issues? Well, no one can deny that addictions and domestic violence are social issues. But they’re always deeply personal as well. On topics I’m passionate about, I’m tempted as I write to mount my hobby horse and ride madly off in all directions (to paraphrase Stephen Leacock). My first drafts are preachy as all get-out. So the one word “how-to” on the subject is: Revise! Being a gabby New Yorker, luckily, I found lots more to say.















My honorarium for the event was a night on a mountaintop, not in Boone, but in Blowing Rock, a spectacularly beautiful dot on the map with a 360 degree view of the Blue Ridge Mountains and winds so fierce that it’s said that in winter, the snow flies upward. The rock itself comes with a legend that involves the ubiquitous Indian maiden—though I liked the local twist, which included the boyfriend, not the maiden, plunging off the rock and a happy ending when the updraft blows him back into her arms.



















I stayed at Gideon Ridge Inn, an upscale hostelry a short stroll away from the actual rock, where my private stone terrace had a breathtaking mountain view. I spent most of the rainy afternoon curled up in a wing chair by the fire with a pot of tea and a plate of little sandwiches and homemade mini pastries close at hand. The massive carving in the picture isn’t a totem pole, it’s the southwest post of my four-poster bed. And the photo shows no more than one-quarter of my room.

In the morning, the rain had stopped, and I got a good look at Blowing Rock with plenty of photo ops. Then I drove down to Boone to give my talk. Afterward, the writers took me out to lunch in town. I’d expressed a preference for the local cuisine, ie barbecue, so a bunch of us piled into a down-home bistro with a snarling representative of the local fauna hanging over us as we ate. He must have been a critic in another life. My only regret on leaving Boone was that I couldn’t stay longer. I’ll have to go back some day—and if I’m lucky, Kaye will be home.

Meanderings

This has been a rough week. It has snowed every day or every night, the temperatures have been arctic, the winds have been brutal with 50 mph gusts and the wind chills have been down in the minus figures.

Donald has had to plow us out every morning before we could go to work, then we'd still have to wait for the road crews to come plow our road (they have been doing a miraculous job). Today was just too much. This morning besides an additional few inches of fresh snow, it was coming down so hard and the wind was blowing so fiercely we had white-out conditions and we just said the heck with it and stayed home.

And I curled up in bed with a cup of coffee and one of the best books ever.

Every once in awhile you find a book that makes you remember just why you fell in love with reading.

Last year I kept hearing people talk about THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY.




I was immediately suspicious and put off. That type of hype always does that to me. I should, however, remember that some of my very favorite books are books I originally shied away from for this very reason. Like - Harry Potter. When I finally got around to buying the first in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the third was just hitting the shelves to a huge amount of hoopla which I thought was just crazy. Then I settled down to read and was a total goner by page 2 where we find a cat reading a map.

(Note to self: Just because it's popular with a lot of people, doesn't mean it isn't good. Pay attention to that!)

I ignored all the buzz about Guernsey until this year when my friend Judy B. mentioned it. Judy and I seem to gravitate towards the same books and writers and it's always fun when we're able to introduce one another to something or someone new. And I'm indebted to her for nudging me towards this lovely novel.

The story of THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY is told through a series of letters written in 1946. We learn about the German occupation of the island of Guernsey. I'm not really a fan of World War II fiction, and I'm not normally a fan of novels coming at me in the form of letters. For having those two strikes against it, I was sure this book was not going to be my cup of tea. And then there's the title. Too clever,I thought; which would probably mean "too cute." I'm for sure not a fan of "too cute."

Once again, I was wrong. I was immediately hooked. Before I reached page 10, I was giving the book a loud shout-out to my reading friends (most of whom had, of course, already read it).

We do learn about the occupation, and there were horrors. We also meet an amazing cast of characters. They're a gentle, humorous, off-beat group and their stories range from joyfully heart-warming to silly to woefully heart-breaking. But they're all told in a voice that is true, clear, loving and respectful. I smiled, I laughed out loud and I wept. And I put the book down knowing that it's one that I'll cherish and remember forever.

When I talked to my friend Nan about it, she asked (as only Nan could do) "Will I want to buy it in hardback to take to the old folks home with me when I go?"

Yes. She will.

And so will I.

And. If I had pots of money, I'd buy everyone I know a copy. Shoot. I'd buy people I don't know a copy. I'd stand on a corner and pass them out to those who look worthy.

Here are a couple of blurbs - -

"A book-lover's delight, an implicit and sometimes explicit paean to all things literary." - Chicago Sun-Times

"One of those joyful books that celebrate how reading brings people together and sustains them through rough times." - New Orleans Times-Picayune

If you haven't read THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY, I hope you will. If you have already, I'd love to hear what you thought.




for full FTC disclosure.
I bought this book.
No payment of any kind has been made for the above stated opinion.

Wendy Bartlett's "Must Read" List

“I’ve never known any trouble that an hour’s reading didn’t assuage.”
- -Charles de Secondat






Must Reads! by Wendy Bartlett

Happiest of New Year’s to you and yours! My name is Wendy Bartlett, and unlike most of Kaye’s guest bloggers here on Meanderings and Muses, I’m not a writer. Just a Reader, as they say. (Oh, and Kaye’s honorary little sister, which is how I ended up here with you today.) But who better to kick off Kaye’s illustrious list of guest bloggers, really, than someone who loves to read?

And I was so glad to be here at my favorite time of year. As much as I love the holidays, I look forward to New Year’s even more, and for one simple reason. I can look ahead to all the fabulous reading I’ll get to do in the coming year.

And as the years go by, and I discover more and more "Must Read" authors to add to my list, the anticipation just keeps building.

Take a look at my list-and these are just the mysteries!! Who’s on yours?

I’m really looking forward to a new Louise Penny, my favorite Must Read author addition of the last few years, as well as her fellow Canadian, Peter Robinson, who never disappoints.

And here’s hoping for a new Laurie R. King, even though last year was a Mary Russell, so this is a stand alone or Kate Martinelli year, I suppose. I’m a huge Mary Russell fan, but any King is better than no King. She’s a writer who is not afraid to take chances, and I love that about her books. You have no clue what you’re signing up for when you start a Laurie R. King, but you know you’re in good hands. Laura Lippman is like that too, and like King, she turns them out, so if we’re lucky, there’s a new Lippman on the way.

March is my favorite month…….and trust me, no one else in Northeastern Ohio says that. Ever. But it’s mine because two of my favorite series come out in March.

Linda Fairstein’s Hell Gate releases in early March, and you can bet mine’s on order already. My only complaint about Fairstein is that she’s too compulsively readable. I always think I’m going to pace myself and make the newest Alex book last longer, and it never, ever works! Sigh. Here’s hoping we’re back to the Vineyard this year. Suppose the French restaurateur is still hanging around?

And long about St. Patrick’s, Rhys Bowen releases a new Molly Murphy. I love that series. Rhys writes the hunkiest love interests…….Daniel is to die for. And I love historical mysteries, so Molly’s 19th century New York is a big favorite. I even made a pilgrimage to Patchin Place the last time I was in New York! And in July, just in time to treat myself to a birthday book, Rhys comes back with her Royal Spyness series set in the ‘30’s and starring Lady Georgiana (Georgie to her friends and readers). I read the last one, Royal Flush, in one delicious evening. Topping, as Georgie would say.

There’s scores more names on my list…….here’s hoping we see a new Bess Crawford, in the new series from Charles Todd. Duty to the Dead was an awesome kick off to this series and one of my favorite books of last year.

And I never argue with a new James Lee Burke, or Reginald Hill, or Anne Perry, for that matter. Steve Hockensmith is riding off range to write about zombies (could I make that up?) instead of cowboys playing Sherlock Holmes, so here’s hoping he’s back with more Old Red and Big Red adventures soon! And what would the year be without a stop in Charleston for tea with Laura Childs?

So no matter what 2010 brings, all I really care is that I’ve got a great bunch of old and new favorites with which to curl up!

Take a second and tell us whose name is on your "Must Read" list this year, and enjoy another warm and wonderful year at Meanderings and Muses! See you here again soon!

Another Contest - Oh Boy! This one for thriller author Shane Gericke

To celebrate the upcoming launch of his new cop thriller, Torn Apart, author Shane Gericke is having his website cleaned, pressed, and buffed to a fine glow . . . and he'd like readers to choose the main photo for his Home Page.

To check out the choices--Shane Serious or Shane Friendly--and register your vote, go to www.ShaneGericke.com and send in your choice. Contest ends soon, so hurry!

My Favorite Books of 2009, What I'm Looking Forward to in 2010 and a Give-Away

And the winner is - - - -

to DA!

Charlotte.

Drop me an email, please, with your mailing address and I'll drop DEAD AIR in the mail to you ASAP.

Thanks for participating, everyone!

Another Give-Away coming soon!

I'm a fool for lists. Love 'em and find myself making them all the time. Sometimes I make them 'cause they're fun, but sometimes I make them out of necessity. It's impossible for me to take a trip without making a list first. And everything - I mean everything - has to be included. Even the most obvious items. Toothpaste and toothbrush? Yep. Gotta be on the list. 'Course, just because it's on the list and manages to get packed, doesn't necessarily mean it gets to its final destination. And I don't mean because the airline lost a bag (although we do know that happens once in awhile, right?!). Sometimes it happens because - well, because it gets forgotten and left behind. I suggest when and if this ever happens to you, you just stay calm, declare a "shopping emergency" and buy yourself a new pair of jeans and a crisp white shirt (and maybe a sweater, or a bright, pretty scarf or shawl - or one of each!). It's an outfit that can carry you a long way. If that sounds like one of those "I've been there and done that" things, well - it is.

But - moving right along - these lists are fun things.

The first is my list of some of my favorite books from 2009. I know I'm forgetting some, so I'm sticking with the statement "some of my favorite books." And as I remember more, this list could change. (Is there a rule that I can't change my list once I've posted it? Pfft! My list - My rules. Life's short - Right? 'Nuff said.).

Okeey doke - First List: Some of my Faves. Listed alphabetically by author's last name.

Ken Bruen & Reed Farrel Coleman - Tower

Toni McGee Causey - When A Man Loves A Weapon

Lee Child - Gone Tomorrow

Reed Farrel Coleman - Empty Ever After

Pat Conroy - South of Broad

Deborah Crombie - Necessary as Blood

JT Ellison - Judas Kiss

Linda Fairstein - Lethal Legacy

Robert Fate - Baby Shark's Jugglers at the Borders

Dorothea Benton Frank - Return to Sullivan's Island

Julie Hyzy - State of the Onion

Craig Johnson - The Dark Horse

Laurie King - The Language of Bees

William Kent Krueger - Heaven's Keep

Laura Lippman - Life Sentences

Mary Jane Maffini - Law & Disorder

Michael Malone - The Four Corners of the Sky

Margaret Maron - Sand Sharks

Carol O'Connell - Bone by Bone

Louise Penny - The Brutal Telling

Peter Robinson - All the Colors of Darkness

S. J. Rozan - Winter and Night

Hank Phillippi Ryan - Air Time

Alex Sokoloff - The Unseen

Louise Ure - Liars Anonymous

Kathryn Wall - Covenant Hall

Sharon Wildwind - Missing, Presumed Wed


Next is a list of books I'm looking forward to in 2010. Most of the writers above are on my "auto-buy" list, so they're automatically included in what I'm looking forward to reading next year. The ones I've listed are those I was able to find information about, ie, a title and the estimated month of publication (always subject to change). If any of you know of a book by one of the above authors that you don't see on this list, let me know, please!!

In order of month of presumed publication, here's what I'm looking forward to:

January:

Eggsecutive Orders: A White House Chef Mystery by Julie Hyzy

February:

Aunt Dimity Down Under by Nancy Atherton

Drive Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan

March:

The Teabury Strangler: A Tea Shop Mystery by Laura Childs

Hell Gate: Alex Cooper by Linda Fairstein (confession. I have an ARC of this which I cannot WAIT to start reading. oh boy oh boy oh boy . . . )

Acadia Falls by Carol Goodman

April:

Holly Blues: A China Bayles Mystery by Susan Wittig Albert

Cat of the Century: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery by Rita Mae Brown

This Body of Death: An Inspector Lynley Novel by Elizabeth George

The Black Cat: A Richard Jury Mystery by Martha Grimes

The God of the Hive: A Novel of Suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes by Laurie R. King

Shoot to Thrill: A Monkeewrench Novel by P. J. Tracy

May:

61 Hours: A Reacher Novel by Lee Child

Junkyard Dogs: A Walt Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson

June:

Lowcountry Summer: A Plantation Novel by Dorothea Benton Frank

The Devil Amongst the Lawyers: A Ballad Novel by Sharyn McCrumb

Book of Shadows by Alexandra Sokoloff

July:

Torn Apart by Shane Gericke

August:

Burnt Mountain by Anne Rivers Siddons

September:

The Cold Room by J.T. Ellison

October:

November:

Christmas Mourning by Margaret Maron

December:



A book I'm especially looking forward to but don't know a publication date for is THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS by Vicki Lane.

If Reed Farrel Coleman has a new Moe Prager in the works I will be one very happy woman.

Fingers crossed for a Dave Robicheaux novel from James Lee Burke.

Another Pat Conroy? big sigh. Fat chance. We'll probably have to wait another ten years for the next jewel by Pat Conroy. But worth the wait.

How about a Justin Savile/Cudy Mangum mystery from Michael Malone? That would be lovely. It's been too long since the last one!

Now, it's your turn! I'll be interested in hearing what your favorite books of 2009 were, and what you're looking forward to reading in 2010.

And, finally - keeping in this holiday spirit of things, I have a book to give away. It's DEAD AIR: A Sammy Greene Thriller by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid. For FTC Full Disclosure: I received an ARC from the publisher, Oceanview Publishing. I've read it, but since I don't do reviews, I have not reviewed it. However, I do have an opinion, which is that "it's quite good & I enjoyed it lots. Sammy Greene is my kinda gal (kinda mouthy, actually) and I look forward to more in this series."

If you're interested in winning this book, just leave a comment INCLUDING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, please. I'll be drawing the winning name on Sunday, January 3rd. Check back here to see the winning name which I'll post after I've been in touch with the winner via email.

Happy Reading, Everyone!!

oh, those little things we take for granted . . . such as - electricity (or "life sucks without it")

I woke up this morning, rolled to my right and looked out the window at a sky as blue as you can ever imagine.
And Elk's Knob - covered with snow.
And trees.
Beautiful bare trees no longer doubled over with ice.

And life is good.

The house was warm without even having to scamper into the living room to throw another log onto the wood stove.

We have our power back and life is good.

I rolled to my left and there on my nightstand was a fresh, steaming cup of coffee.

Real coffee and not a Folger's single in a little tea bag with a string. Now, not that Folger's singles aren't perfectly fine fine fine, but they're just not up to snuff when it comes to the real thing.

Donald Barley is the best man I know. For one thing, (a very big thing) he brings me coffee every morning of my life. The few times I have woken up during our lifetime together and there hasn't been a cup of coffee on my night stand I've had momentary panics wondering what's wrong with my Donald that there's no coffee on my nightstand. Now, don't get the wrong idea - he's great, I agree. BUT - truth of the matter is, if I'm the first one up, then I bring him his coffee and put it on his nightstand. Granted, I might play possum from time to time . . .

He's also the guy you want around when you're iced in.

Our power went off around lunch time on Christmas Day. It came back last night. Approximately 43 hours later. Huh. Seemed like much longer!

When you're 12 miles away from civilization, and those 12 miles are country mountain roads that are covered with ice and you don't have power and you don't know when the power might be coming back you might fret a bit. I'm the fretter. Donald, however, is Mr. Laid Back Practical Guy. He just goes about the business of doing what needs to be done with an eye on what might need to be done. So instead of getting upset, getting panicky, getting mad, I found myself just kinda laid back and following his lead. a good thing.

That's not to say that when the power came back on last night that I didn't let out a whoop and do a little happy dance across the room. Oh no. I wasn't that laid back and carefree about it all. And that's not to say Donald wasn't a happy camper either. Believe me. We were two VERY happy people.

When it flickered back on, Donald was downstairs in his recliner just being his ol' laid back self staring into the fire in the woodstove (which I will never ever take for granted again ever ever ever). I was upstairs in bed reading by flashlight (another item I will never ever take for granted again ever ever ever). (Let's hear it for woodstoves and flashlights!). I heard Donald say "Power!" and I at first thought it was a continuation of the chant we'd been laughingly carrying on for several days. We would look at a lamp, or a ceiling fixture and raise our arms and shout "Power! Let there be power!" all to no avail, surprisingly enough. Since no lights came on in the bedroom when Donald shouted this particular "Power!," it took me going into the living room and seeing the little lights on the Christmas tree twinkling to fully realize that we did, indeed, have power. Hooray, Boy Howdy, and Yippee Skippy!!

While we did a few shouts of joyful noise, Harley did his own little barks of joy. We hopped around, Harley hopped around. Bless his Corgi heart, he's so low to the ground he's managed to be tripped over and accidentally kicked several times during the days of no light. He's taken it all in the same laid back manner as his dad.

And the next thing I did, after calling my Mom to let her know we now had power (she's not exactly the laid back type), was let the water we had in the bathtub for "the necessities" run out, scoured the tub, filled it again with hot water and a HUGE dollop of Bath & Body Warm Vanilla Sugar bubble bath.

Life is SO good.

I never had a well before we moved to these mountains. It took me completely by surprise to learn that when the power goes out and you're on a well, that means NO WATER. No water. That means you better always have some bottled water on hand. It also means you better pay enough attention to the weather forecasts to run water into your bathtub for flushing the toidies if you lose your power. You do not, for Heaven's Sake, want to use your good bottled water for flushing toidies! And you learn to keep some water in pans on the woodstove (God bless a woodstove) for those little bird baths you're gonna be taking while you're without power. Oh, those little things we take for granted.

So - today our driveway is still covered with a pretty thick sheet of ice.

But.

The road crew has gotten here, and although our road is still pretty much a mess, they've done the best they can do. Our road gets unexpectedly steep just above our house and the elevation does a very quick upswing. So above us, the road is in much worse shape than it is below us. It's in good enough shape that we can, by driving ever so carefully, at least get out. Donald made an emergency run into town the day before yesterday for more bottled water and batteries and was able to get to the container site to dump all the food that we had to clear out of our refrigerator and freezer (talk about a sad thing - this was a very sad thing). The main roads, he says, were in pretty good shape. The scary thing was the number of trees, power lines and power poles that he saw down.

When he came home he came bearing gifts.

Hamburgers.

Hot strong coffee from our favorite coffee shop.

Oh, those little things we take for granted . . . .

And now that we have power (insert whoops of joy and happy dances), and Donald has taken him a real shower (no bubbles for this guy), he's heading back into town. You see - there's ice in our forecast for the end of the week. So, we may need to be prepared yet again; more bottle water, etc. In the meantime, the skies are blue and we have power. And a hankering for a pizza. a real pizza. extra cheese . . . . from that pizza place in town - 12 miles away . . .


The man is my hero.

Help me please, remember, not to take him for granted. And kick me in the butt if I do. O.k.?

on a very serious note. This has been an inconvenience for us. But all in all - that's all its been. An inconvenience. Because we have two woodstoves, we've never been cold. There are still a number of people in our area who are without power, and who may be without power for awhile. And who do not have a source of heat. We're a very rural area around the little town of Boone, and in some places it's quite the wilderness. We have a lot of people living here in areas that are impossible for the electric company workers to get to just yet. There are still icy road conditions and there are trees down across these roads that must be removed so the crews can get to the areas in need. Send warm thoughts and prayers, please.

'cause it's the season by Shane Gericke

National bestselling thriller writer Shane Gericke (pronounced YER-key) spent 25 years as a journalist, most prominently as a senior financial editor at the Chicago Sun-Times, before plunging into crime thrillers. Torn Apart, his new cops-vs.-psychos novel, will launch worldwide on July 6, 2010, from Pinnacle Fiction. It joins Blown Away—winner of the prestigious “Debut Mystery of the Year” from RT Book Reviews magazine—and Cut to the Bone in gathering accolades from such New York Times bestsellers as Jeffrey Deaver, Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Douglas Preston, Erica Spindler, John J. Nance, Gayle Lynds, Alex Kava and John Lutz, with one critic enthusiastically reporting, “Cross James Patterson with Joseph Wambaugh, and you get Shane Gericke.” Shane, whose books have been translated into German, Chinese, Slovakian and Turkish, lives in the Chicago suburb of Naperville, IL, where the series is set. He’s chairman of ThrillerFest in New York City, a founding member of International Thriller Writers, and a member of Mystery Writers of America. Visit him at www.shanegericke.com







'cause it's the season By Shane Gericke



War.



Pestilence.



Blizzards.



Tiger.



Needle boy.



Jon and Kate unmate.



Tis the season.



But the news isn’t all bad for the holidays. There’s plenty of hope and heroics. You just have to look in the back pages of the newspaper, not the front.



So in honor of Musings and Meanderings and its ever-cheerful proprietor, Kaye Barley, I’d like to share a few of the happy stories with you. Cause it’s the season for that, too.



NEVER OFF-DUTY: Chicago firefighter Jason Durbin was finishing his hot dog at The Weiner’s Circle when he noticed smoke pouring from the top of a nearly skyscraper. He wasn’t working that day, so could have called 911 and left the mess to his fellow fire-dogs. But real firefighters run toward the flames, not away, and that’s what Durbin did. He ran up the stairs to the 28th floor, only to be hit by a thick wall of smoke. Someone passing him said a woman was in trouble down the hall. He felt his way to her—remember, the hall was choked with inky smoke—and bumped into the curled-up woman. He dragged her to the stairwell, then carried her down the 28 flights of stairs. She wound up in serious condition with smoke inhalation and burns—but survived. If you don’t adore firefighters, you absolutely have no soul.



WE’RE CONNECTED: It wasn’t so long ago we stayed in touch only by letters or phone. Now we have the Internet and e-mail (developed in the 1970s, popularized in the ’90s), MySpace (2003), Facebook (2005), Twitter (2006) and hundreds of other social-connection media. That couldn’t have happened without broadband Internet, which really took off in the mid-2000s. The first iPod was introduced in 2001 (a music odyssey), followed by YouTube (2005). With all that at our fingertips, we now communicate in all sorts of fashion. Except for sitting down face to face, of course. Who has time for that?



JUST DUES: The University of California at Davis authorized special college degrees to all students who attended the school during World War II but were forced to leave when Americans of Japanese descent were forced into concentration camps for the duration of the war. It was a shameful episode in our history, I believe, and some may quibble with my calling them “concentration” camps, not the more officially pleasant “detainment.” But what would you call it if you were imprisoned in a camp ringed with barbed wire and armed guards, in barracks so shabby that cold winds howled through the walls, and toilets with no privacy? And not in, say, Palm Springs or San Francisco, but in the God-forsaken wildernesses of Utah and Wyoming? It was monstrous decision, throwing our own citizens into prison without benefit of a trial, but at least institutions like UC-Davis are trying to make it right.



LIFE GOES ON: Anne Marie Schlekeway of Chicago is dying of ALS, more popularly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. But she’s determined to show the world she’s fighting it, one day after the next, and so has started a blog, www.KissMyALS.com. She talks frankly about the disease and her life, touching upon such sensitive topics as toileting—“To speed the process while on the pot, lift both arms over your head”—to sex: “Trouble breathing in the missionary position … what I thought was me getting fat was really weakened muscles in the diaphragm.” In my view, people like Schlekeway, who bare their souls that others might not suffer alone, are worth ten millions Tigers Wood.



HOUSTON, WE HAVE NO PROBLEM: Voters in Bible Belt Houston, Texas, elected their first openly gay mayor. She is Annise Parker, and she won by focusing on the brick-and-mortar realities of running the country’s fourth-largest city. Like ever other successful politician, she connected with voters with her willingness to roll up her sleeves, and those voters didn’t hold her sexual preference against her. It’s good to see us overcome our gay-hating culture, even if it’s one person at a time.



SHAVE AND A HAIRCUT, TWO BITS: Even better, free. Cristiano Cora runs a chi-chi hair-styling salon in New York’s Greenwich Village. He charges $300 for a haircut, and that doesn’t include color or highlights. His work is in demand, and he’s heavily booked. But … once a week he gives free cuts to the unemployed, as a way to lift their spirits. Just make an appointment and bring in something that proves you’re unemployed—pink slip, pay stub, whatever—and the cut is gratis. He says he’ll do it as long as the recession lasts. May he become a billionaire, one head at a time.



KINGLY GENEROSITY: The high priest of high scares, Stephen King, and his wife, Tabitha, donated $12,999 to an organization so 150 soldiers of the Army National Guard in Maine could travel from an Army training camp in Indiana to spend the holidays at home. Someone approached King about donating $13,000 to cover the travel expense. King, being King, said he’d love to, but make it $12,999—the number 13 is unlucky. Julie Eugley, one of King’s assistants, chipped in the extra buck, and the soldiers were on their way. King should be a bestseller for this alone. Fortunately, his momentous writing has already gotten him there.



AND FINALLY: Authorities have arrested the coal-souled bastard who shoved dozens of sewing needles into his own son’s body. Robert Magalhaes of Brazil confessed to pushing more than forty needles into his young son in order to spite his ex-wife, the boy’s mother. (Magalhaes did it on orders from his new wife, cops say he also said.) Emergency surgery to remove the needles closest to killing the boy was successful, and the boy is recovering. My holiday wish is that the father is quickly convicted, shoved into a Brazilian prison, and turned loose into a general population armed with sewing needles. Can you say, Pincushion?



Hey, I never said “happy” meant “Pollyanna.”



And to all, a shiny happy holiday, however you celebrate it.

It's That Time of Year by Doris Ann Norris

Doris Ann Norris is also affectionately known by many as "the 2000 year old librarian." She is retired as a library director, but subs at two Ohio County libraries as reference and reader's advisory librarian. Doris Ann manages to go to four mystery conferences a year and just finished up a five year term on the Sisters in Crime board as library liaison.

It’s That Time of Year by Doris Ann Norris

When I first selected this date to be Kaye Barley’s guest blogger, I had a rant in mind concerning the schmaltz, commercialization and secularization of December holidays, including Christmas and Hanukkah.

But things change in our lives.

In my case, this will be the first Christmas without my mother, who left this plane in November at the age of 96. True, as the last five years saw her sink deeper and deeper into dementia. The last three years she didn’t know her children or even what her birthday, Mother’s Day, Christmas, meant.

She’d ask what those presents were doing on the table.

The December holidays truly change as we grow older and we often become dispirited and depressed, as these supposedly joyful and family-bonding times of love don’t seem to materialize.

But this year I have nothing but happy, glowing and warm memories of past holidays with my parents, four brothers and my only sister as well as the family as it grew to receive spouses of siblings and nieces and nephews. It’s, no doubt, part of the healing process in the recovery of loss. Gone are the bad memories and only the happy ones remain….at least for this year.

So, I’ve been watching the Hallmark Channel and other old movies and some not-so-old ones. Everyone ends up full of happiness, love and often with a Christmas miracle.

Christmas is saved by Ernest, by a red-nosed reindeer, by a squirrel, by dogs, etc. Angels, including Peter Falk, Harry Dean Stanton, Patty Duke, Katie Sagal, et al come down to Earth. In fact, Falk plays Max, an angel, in at least three made-for-TV movies.

Then there are ghosts that come back to make their family Christmases complete.

The most famous ghosts, however, are those of Charles Dickens in A CHRISTMAS CAROL. How many “straight” versions have been made? My favorite is the one with Alistair Sim, followed by George C. Scott version. The first movie recorded was made in 1916 and this year there is a new one with Jim Carrey.

Then many a television series has included an adaptation featuring the Dickens’ characterizations, including one I caught of the TV series THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR featuring Charles Nelson Riley as the Scrooge character.

In fact those ghosts, including Marley and Christmases Past, Present and Future have been reenacted by dogs, Muppets, Mr. Magoo and more.

Don’t forget the Bill Murray version or those featuring Susan Lucci, Tori Spelling Cicely Tyson, Hoyt Axton, Vanessa Williams uttering “Bah, humbug.”

One of my favorites is A CHRISTMAS STORY by Jean Shepherd with the boy who wanted a Red Ryder BB gun.

Many people list IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE as their favorite holiday story, and here is my rant about this classic film. Jimmy Stewart as George is wonderful. His persona which he played so often is “Everyman”, as we’d like to see him…honest, sensitive with so much integrity as well as a sense of humor and humanity.

But I have learned to hate this movie…and blame Frank Capra. Jimmy, aka George Bailey is never born and all kinds of terrible things happen which he could have prevented.

And what terrible fate awaits Donna Reed as Mary? If George isn’t born she ends up…horror of horrors…as a spinster librarian in their small town.

Let me tell you Mr. Capra, being an unmarried librarian in a small town or a big city can be a “wonderful life” as well.

May all of you who are celebrating Hanukkah have nothing but light in your lives. May everyone of whatever religion of culture have your 12 Days of Christmas, as well as the 12 months of 2010, and the rest of your years be filled with love and laughter, peace and prosperity, family and friends and, of course, wonderful books.


Doris Ann Norris, the 2000-thousand-year-old librarian

a whole lotta snowin' going on . . .

The snow started Friday morning and it has been snowing off and on ever since. We probably have about 18 inches now with another 3 or 4 inches in the forecast for today. Hard to tell though - the wind is pretty fierce at times, so it's blowing and drifting. And Donald has plowed the driveway once, but it's starting to fill up again. I'll let the pictures tell the story. And I'll keep adding pictures, so check back from time to time. You know - we're on dial-up here, so pictures take forEVAH to load, and I still have another 20 or so to go. AND I haven't even taken any yet today. But Harley and I are getting ready to go out and do that right now . . . Enjoy!