A Wednesday Morning Meandering

I love words.

I am continually seduced by words, and love that there are wonderfully talented writers who are constantly finding new ways of arranging them.  Finding the perfect pattern or rhythm or cadence so they'll move us; touch us in some way.

And as usual - there's someone who has expressed those feelings better than I ever could.

Enjoy!!

Thesaurus

by Billy Collins

It could be the name of a prehistoric beast
that roamed the Paleozoic earth, rising up
on its hind legs to show off its large vocabulary,
or some lover in a myth who is metamorphosed into a book.

It means treasury, but it is just a place
where words congregate with their relatives,
a big park where hundreds of family reunions
are always being held,
house, home, abode, dwelling, lodgings, and digs,
all sharing the same picnic basket and thermos;
hairy, hirsute, woolly, furry, fleecy, and shaggy
all running a sack race or throwing horseshoes,
inert, static, motionless, fixed and immobile
standing and kneeling in rows for a group photograph.

Here father is next to sire and brother close
to sibling, separated only by fine shades of meaning.
And every group has its odd cousin, the one
who traveled the farthest to be here:
astereognosis, polydipsia, or some eleven
syllable, unpronounceable substitute for the word tool.
Even their own relatives have to squint at their name tags.

I can see my own copy up on a high shelf.
I rarely open it, because I know there is no
such thing as a synonym and because I get nervous
around people who always assemble with their own kind,
forming clubs and nailing signs to closed front doors
while others huddle alone in the dark streets.

I would rather see words out on their own, away
from their families and the warehouse of Roget,
wandering the world where they sometimes fall
in love with a completely different word.
Surely, you have seen pairs of them standing forever
next to each other on the same line inside a poem,
a small chapel where weddings like these,
between perfect strangers, can take place.

A Special Family by Jen Forbus

When Kaye invited me to be a part of her guest blogger series, I thought she had included me on the distribution by mistake. After over two years of blogging at Jen’s Book Thoughts, I’m still getting use to the wonderful community of crime fiction – its writers, its readers,…everyone.

If you don’t know me, I taught high school English for many years. When I left the classroom, I had a huge void that use to be filled by reading and discussing books with my students and colleagues. When I was teaching, I didn’t read much beyond my curriculum simply because I didn’t have time. So, when I stopped teaching, I was on a mission to find what was available and fun in the reading world. I crashed head long into Robert Crais and Linda Fairstein about that time. Can you say, “hook, line and sinker?” A discussion group for Robert Crais lead me to Michael Koryta and my very first book event. I was so excited after leaving Michael’s event that I had to talk about it. Most people around me will politely listen and be happy that I enjoy books and events, but they don’t really get it; after awhile, they’re just like, “alright Jen, enough is enough.” That was really the motivation to start Jen’s Book Thoughts, a place where I could talk to my heart’s content, and hopefully find people as excited to talk as I was. 

I was going along writing about the books I was reading, people were offering up new suggestions, and I was thoroughly enjoying myself. So, I decided to try some new things on the blog. I contacted a few writers that I admired to ask if they would answer some questions for blog interviews. Those writers included Michael Koryta, Lisa Unger and Alafair Burke. They all enthusiastically said “yes.” Looking back on my questions from those interviews, I see they left a lot to be desired, but it truly meant the world to me for them to agree to give of their time. I’ve done a few more interviews since then; I think I’ve grown a little better at developing my questions, but it still leaves me on Cloud 9 whenever I ask someone I admire for an interview and they say, “sure.” And it still means the world to me that Michael, Lisa and Alafair were willing to give of their time. I mean, after all, who was I? 

When Tim Hallinan contacted me to ask me to read his book THE FOURTH WATCHER, I was incredibly flattered. He was the first person to ask me to read his book. Wow! Someone really cared what I thought about their book?

 

 

In this past year, another pair of extremely special people came into my life, Jon and Ruth Jordan. These two are a part of many of your lives, so you understand how treasured my relationship is with them. They, too, took a gamble on me and invited me to submit reviews to CRIMESPREE. When the first issue to include one of my reviews came out, I forced everyone I knew to read! I still get ridiculously excited whenever I get my new issue and see my name under a review. 

November brought yet another adventure; I conducted my first video interview. Tom Schreck agreed to take a chance on me with that one. Bless his heart. And my most recent jump, my live interview with Alafair Burke at a Muskego Library event. Could I possibly be more blessed? 

People who know me most likely know me because of a series I started last summer called “You’ve the Right to Six Words: Six-Word Memoirs from Crime Fiction’s Greatest Writers.” The folks at Smith’s Magazine have published a few collections of people’s six-word memoirs and I had read their first book, NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS EXPECTING: SIX-WORD MEMOIRS OF WRITERS FAMOUS AND OBSCURE. I took the query to writers I was interested in hearing from and was overwhelmed by the response I received. I had originally hoped to pull out 8 or 10 weeks of posts, maybe 40 authors. More than 100 authors responded with their memoirs, and I honestly still can’t believe how well the series was received. I’m going to resurrect it for Season 2 because of its popularity with readers and writers alike.

So you’re asking, “Jen, what’s the point of all this?” October was my first Bouchercon, and if I remember nothing else, I’ll remember Jon Jordan saying, “she’s a part of the family.” The crime fiction community has become just that for me, a family. Every time I’ve ventured further with my blog, there have been amazing people along the way to stand beside me, encourage me and support me. Isn’t that what family’s about? I once heard a person say, “your friends are the family you choose.” I’ve chosen so many people in this community to be my “family” and to be chosen back is a gift beyond all others.

A question I hear regularly now is, “But Jen, what’s YOUR six-word memoir?” It would have to be:

"They welcomed me into their family."

So, to Kaye, who’s been a constant source of support, and all the other writers and readers who have contributed to my love of this genre and this community, THANK YOU, for letting me be a part.

Pat Conroy Blog Tour in April

TLC Book Tours will be sponsoring a blog tour next month.

Meanderings and Muses is going to play.

And guess who the guest is going to be?!

Pat Conroy.

Yay!

My literary hero.  

Author of The Boo, The Water is Wide, The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides, Beach Music, My Losing Season, and The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life.

Most of you already know what a huge Pat Conroy fan I am and have read my earlier blogs squealing about him, and about his work, so I am quite naturally tickled pink about Meanderings and Muses being one of the tour hosts.  Tickled pink?!  Hell Honeys, I am over the moon. 

And if you'll bear with me, please, I'm going to repeat my Pat Conroy story.

When Donald and I were still living in Atlanta, Mr. Conroy did a signing of "Beach Music," and we, of course, went to Mr. Conroy's signing. My first edition personally inscribed and autographed copy of this marvelous book is one of my life's treasures. As is remembering the conversation we had regarding Fripp Island. While we waited in line, Donald kept saying things like "now you need to talk to him - don't freeze up, tell him how much you admire his work, tell him you love Fripp Island - say something!!" So, when it came time to hand this great man my book, I spurted out "I love Fripp Island. Wish I lived there." (brilliant, huh?! pfft). Mr. Conroy stood up, left his chair, came around the table, asked our names, shook our hands, leaned against the table and said "You know Fripp Island? Tell me how you know Fripp." I could have died. But I rambled on at some length about how a group of very close friends would go to Fripp every year for Memorial Day weekend. How we would always rent the same big old house at the very tippy end of the island and how we did that for several years and how those weekends were some of the loveliest of my life. Without missing a beat, he said - "I've heard of you! Weren't you and your friends told to leave the island and never return?!" And threw his head back and laughed a big booming, from the soul, laugh. And so did I. That, of course, never happened, but that he could even just say such an outrageous thing, made me just want to laugh with him, and kneel at his feet. He then proceeded to chat with us at length about Fripp, and his love for the island, acting as though we were the only people in the room with him at the time. I was honored by his attentiveness, and completely in awe of his graciousness. If I had not been a huge fan before, that did it. He's funny, ever so personable, I love him and he is one of my heroes. We all need heroes.

Cool that we'll be a part  of this blog tour? VERY cool!

Even though -

Unfortunately, Mr. Conroy is too busy to really participate in the tour by writing guest posts. And that makes me kinda sad.  But.  There is a very slight possibility that he might be available to answer questions. I'm not sure I'd count on this, but it's lovely to think it "might" happen.  So drop by on Wednesday, April 7th and leave a comment, then cross your fingers and click your heels and wish on a star and who knows, maybe Mr. Conroy will pop in and respond.  Well, it COULD happen!  Right?!

GOOD NEWS is that I'm able to offer a give-away to those of you who stop by and leave a comment at Meanderings and Muses on the day of our event. So, if you'd like your name entered in a drawing for a trade/paperback copy of the book to be sent to you by the publisher, please stop back on Wednesday, April 7th. Remember, please, to include your email address with your comment. (Random House will ship to US/Canadian addresses only). 

 

A little about SOUTH OF BROAD.   

From TLC Book Tours:  "Leopold Bloom King has been raised in a family shattered—and shadowed—by tragedy. Lonely and adrift, he searches for something to sustain him and finds it among a tightly knit group of high school outsiders. Surviving marriages happy and troubled, unrequited loves and unspoken longings, hard-won successes and devastating breakdowns, as well as Charleston, South Carolina’s dark legacy of racism and class divisions, these friends will endure until a final test forces them to face something none of them are prepared for.

Spanning two turbulent decades, South of Broad is Pat Conroy at his finest: a masterpiece from a great American writer whose passion for life and language knows no bounds."

From Kirkus (starred review):  "[The] first novel in 14 years from the gifted spinner of Southern tales (Beach Music, 1995, etc.) – a tail-wagging shaggy dog at turns mock-epic and gothic, beautifully written throughout. The title refers, meaningfully, to a section of Charleston, S.C., and, as with so many Southern tales, one great story begets another and another. This one starts promisingly: ‘Nothing happens by accident.' Indeed. The Greeks knew that, and so does young Leopold Bloom King. It is on Bloomsday 1969 that 18-year-old Leo learns his mother had once been a nun. Along the way, new neighbors appear, drugs make their way into the idyllic landscape and two new orphans turn up ‘behind the cathedral on Broad Street.' The combination of all these disparate elements bears the unmistakable makings of a spirit-shaping saga. The year 1969 is a heady one, of course, with the Summer of Love still fresh in memory, but Altamont on the way and Vietnam all around. Working a paper route along the banks of the Ashley River and discovering the poetry of place, Leo gets himself in a heap of trouble, commemorated years later by the tsk-tsking of the locals. But he also finds out something about how things work and who makes them work right – or not. Leo's classic coming-of-age tale sports, in the bargain, a king-hell hurricane. Conroy is a natural at weaving great skeins of narrative and this one will prove a great pleasure to his many fans."

From Booklist:  "An unlikely group of Charlestonian teens forms a friendship in 1969, just as the certainties and verities of southern society are quaked by the social and political forces unleashed earlier in the decade. They come from all walks of life, from the privileged homes of the aristocracy, from an orphanage, from a broken home where an alcoholic mother and her twins live in fear of a murderous father, from the home of public high school's first black football coach, and from the home of the same school's principal. The group's fulcrum, Leopold Bloom King, is just climbing out of childhood mental illness after having discovered his handsome, popular, athletic, scholarly older brother dead from suicide. Over the next two decades, these friends find success in journalism, the bar, law enforcement, music, and Hollywood. Echoing some themes from his earlier novels, Conroy fleshes out the almost impossibly dramatic details of each of the friends' lives in this vast, intricate story, and he reveals truths about love, lust, class, racism, religion, and what it means to be shaped by a particular place, be it Charleston, South Carolina, or anywhere else in the U.S."

From Publisher's Weekly:  "Leopold Bloom King narrates a paean to his hometown and friends in Conroy's first novel in 14 years. In the late '60s and after his brother commits suicide, then 18-year-old Leo befriends a cross-section of the city's inhabitants: scions of Charleston aristocracy; Appalachian orphans; a black football coach's son; and an astonishingly beautiful pair of twins, Sheba and Trevor Poe, who are evading their psychotic father. The story alternates between 1969, the glorious year Leo's coterie stormed Charleston's social, sexual and racial barricades, and 1989, when Sheba, now a movie star, enlists them to find her missing gay brother in AIDS-ravaged San Francisco. Some characters are tragically lost to the riptides of love and obsession, while others emerge from the frothy waters of sentimentality and nostalgia. Fans of Conroy's florid prose and earnest melodramas are in for a treat." 

My own paltry attempt at reviewing SOUTH OF BROAD will be here on April 7th.  In the meantime, visit Mr. Conroy's website - there are a couple of very interesting video interviews, descriptions of all his books, and other fun things to be found there; including a guest book you can sign.

FTC Disclosure Notice:

SOUTH OF BROAD: A Novel
Pat Conroy
Nan A. Talese/Doubleday
Publication date: August 11, 2009
Price: $29.95
ISBN: 978-0-385-41305-3

I was sent a copy of this book by the publisher.
No payment of any kind has been made for my stated opinion.

Brooks & Dunn - oh boy oh boy oh boy

dang.

My Brooks and Dunn post I did earlier got deleted accidentally.  I just wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and "poof" - there it went.  big sigh.    But since I liked having their picture here, well - by gum - I'm just putting it right back up.

Donald and I love Brooks & Dunn and we go see them almost every year when they come to North Carolina.  We'll be going again this year in June.  I was able to get our tickets in a pre-sale and we'll be sitting Stage Right - Ninth Row.  Pretty darn good!!

and I'm excited.

And here they are - cute as buttons - both of 'em.

This will be a fun evening, but bittersweet 'cause this is their farewell tour as a duo.  I'm sure they'll both being doing some great stuff in their solo careers, but I can't help but cross my fingers and hope they'll do some more projects together in the future.

Here's what they had to say about their break-up:

"To Our Fans:
After 20 years of making music and riding this trail together, we have agreed as a duo that it’s time call it a day. This ride has been everything and more than we could ever have dreamed…. We owe it all to you, the fans. If you hear rumors, don’t believe them, it’s just time.
We will release our #1’s and then some” on September 8th and bid you farewell one last time in 2010, with The Last Rodeo Tour…(dates to be announced)."

And trying one more time with the video -



Enjoy!!

My Writing Process by Marilyn Meredith

Marilyn Meredith is the author of over twenty-five published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the latest "Dispel the Mist" from Mundania Press. Under the name of F. M. Meredith she writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series, "An Axe to Grind" is the latest from Oak Tree Press and "No Sanctuary" is a finalist in the mystery/suspense category of the Epic best in e-books contest .


She is a member of EPIC, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. She was an instructor for Writer’s Digest School for ten years, served as an instructor at the Maui Writer’s Retreat and many other writer’s conferences. She makes her home in Springville CA, much like Bear Creek where Deputy Tempe Crabtree lives. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com
http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/
Stiletto Gang: http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/




























 
My Writing Process by Marilyn Meredith

Every time I begin a new book, it’s a tad different. I write two different series, the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series–the latest is An Axe to Grind–and the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series with Dispel the Mist being the last one out.

I collect newspaper articles, notes I’ve taken at Sisters in Crime meetings when a police officer or detective or anyone with interesting stories is the speaker. I also print things out for the Internet that pique my interest. Usually when I’m finishing one book, I go from one series to the next, I have a seed of an idea growing about the next book I want to write.

My research for an earlier Tempe Crabtree book led me to learn more about a legendary creature who lives or lived on the Tule River Indian reservation and I knew had I had to find out more and actually visit the place where he and his family are picture on the walls of a rock shelter–and from there came Dispel the Mist.

While finishing up the edits on An Axe to Grind my grandson posted photos of bears and stories about the bears he and his fellow officers were chasing out of people’s homes in Aspen, CO. The more I read I knew that bears had to be in my next Tempe Crabtree. I had no idea what I was going to do with the bears or what kind of part they would play, I only knew bears would carry a major part of the story.

Bear Creek, the fictional place where Tempe is the resident deputy, has a large resemblance to the little town I live in though I’ve moved up in the mountains another thousand feet. One of my friends called to tell me about a bear sighting in someone’s back yard only a few miles from my house. Great, this would make my story in more believable to those who know I’m writing about where I live.

Anytime I start a new book I start thinking about the characters I want to inhabit that story. Of course the main characters will always be Tempe and her pastor husband Hutch, along with Nick Two John, the enigmatic Indian who often leads Tempe to the way to solve some of her problems. Next comes the person who will be the murder victim and why someone, usually more than one someone, would like to see this person dead. Often the one I think will be the killer is not the one I begin with. Nearly every author I know admits to having this surprising turn of events no matter how well they might have plotted the mystery beforehand.

As I begin to plan even more, there is always some research I have to do along the way whether it be about the actual murder or perhaps some side plot I want to introduce. 

Finally it’s time to begin. That first sentence is important–I want it to be something that will make the reader continue on. 

Once I’m going good I have to think about writing character descriptions, believable dialogue that’s going to move the plot along, what places look like, setting the mood with weather and smells. Of course some of that I may plug in when I go back to rewrite.

I write on the computer, however, I have a notebook nearby to write notes on as ideas occur to me that I want to include later. Piled around me are other sheets of paper with research notes, some that I’ve printed from the Internet.

When I’m writing, I try to stop in a middle of a scene so I’ll know exactly what comes next when I sit back down at the computer. Any questions about guns and cars I ask my husband. I never get technical like some people do, even in my Rocky Bluff P.D. books–since they are more about the old-fashioned way of solving a crime and the relationships and personal problems of the police officers and their families. Those stories never move past the arrest of the guilty party.

Each chapter is read to my critique group. They are absolutely wonderful at not only catching things like typos and grammar errors, but inconsistencies and they question why I have characters doing certain things. I may not always agree with what someone has said, but if he or she had a problem, then I probably need to rework the writing.

When I have finished–think I have, anyway, I got back over the whole thing, reading it with a critical eye. Once I’ve got it where I think it’s really finished, I sent it off to a reader or editor. I have a couple who are really good at catching things I didn’t even see. When it comes back to me, I’ll fix and/or rework sentences and other things they’ve marked on the manuscript.

When I’m done, off it goes to my publisher. After what seems an awfully long time, I’ll hear that the manuscript has been assigned to an editor. That editor will go through the manuscript and make even more corrections and suggestions–sort of a fine tuning. Then it comes back to me and I can agree with her suggestions or not and I send it back. When it’s formatted for the book, it returns to me once again in galley form and I have one last chance to check for errors and corrections.

Once I know when the book will be out, I begin fleshing out my promotional plan. Of course, along with writing, this is something I do on a regular basis anyway. At the same time, I’ll be starting the process all over for the next Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel.

I know every author has his or her own way of writing a book–this is mine and so far it’s working for me. Why don’t you tell me how you set about writing your book?

Marilyn Meredith

http://fictionforyou.com
http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/
Stiletto Gang: http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/

Jen Hosts "The World's Favorite Detective Tournament"

My friend Jen Forbus is too clever by far.

The woman just keeps coming up with wonderful new things at her Jen's Book Thoughts.

Drop by and join the fun as she hosts The World's Favorite Detective Tournament.

This is going to be SO much fun.

A Thank You !

Last year I wrote about Fighting Those Ol' Wintertime Blues.  Remember?  We went to see Willie Nelson.  It was a great way to forget about winter.  And shoot - compared to this year, last year's winter didn't even register on the scale.

Willie put on his usual terrific show.  I adore Willie Nelson.  But, this blog is not about Willie Nelson.

 

This year all I've done is whine about the weather, and I have bored myself silly with it all.  Willie would be ashamed, I'm sure.

So.

This blog is my little thank you to the guy who has helped me move on with things and survive this year's ol' winter time blues.

 Bob Morris.

This about Bob from his Amazon.com page: "Bob Morris is a fourth-generation Floridian who forsook the family farm 'a fernery in Lake County, to be exact 'to pursue a career in journalism. It was an indirect route, actually. After flunking two consecutive terms of organic chemistry, Morris decided he was not cut out to be a marine biologist and set out to travel around the world instead. He eventually landed at a farming commune in Israel where his responsibilities included shoveling out the daily deposits of 12,000 chickens and 12,000 turkeys. It was an experience that later served him well as a newspaper columnist when he shoveled out such stuff on a daily basis.

After eventually graduating from the University of Florida, Morris went on to work at a number of newspapers, including the Florida Keys Free Press, the Fort Myers News-Press, the Orlando Sentinel, and the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group. Among his most dubious achievements'founding the annual Queen Kumquat Sashay, a parade in downtown Orlando for people who would not be permitted in any other parade. Morris and his family spemt two years in Santa Barbara, California, where he created and launched AQUA, an international travel magazine for watersports enthusiasts. Upon returning to Florida in 1999, he was editor in chief of Caribbean Travel & Life magazine and Gulfshore Life magazine.

Now a freelance writer and editor, Morris continues to travel widely and contributes to a number of publications, including National Geographic Traveler, Bon Appetit, Islands, Robb Report, Latitudes and Men's Fitness. These travels have inspired his recent series of mystery novels from St. Martin's Press, each of which takes place on a different Caribbean island. The first one, BAHAMARAMA, was released to wide acclaim in November 2004 and was a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Mystery Novel and chosen by the Library Journal as one the year's Top Five Mysteries. Morris's second novel, JAMAICA ME DEAD, was released in October 2005 and was a BookSense Pick by the American Booksellers Association. His third book, BERMUDA SCHWARTZ, was released in February 2007."  A DEADLY SILVER SEA was released in 2008, and the latest, BAJA FLORIDA just recently hit the stands.

If you're sick and tired of winter.  If you're wishing that white stuff under your feet could be warm sand instead of icy nasty cold snow - then these are the books for you.

 

 

 

Zack Chasteen's adventures begin in BAHAMARAMA as the former Miami Dolphins linebacker is released from a Florida prison after serving two years for crimes he didn't commit.  Through the series we continue the ride with Zack, his ladylove, Barbara, and a host of unforgettable characters.  I LOVE this series.

In JAMAICA RESORT we spend time at the Libido Resorts - yes, it's a resort that lives up to its name.

 In BERMUDA SCHWARTZ we meet Barbara's wealthy eccentric Aunt Trula.  Mr. Morris has written a scene in this novel that captured my heart with its poignancy.  It takes place in the Bermuda Botanical Gardens and gives us a bit of an insight into what may have helped make Barbara and Zack who they are.  And also includes a little snippet about another hero of mine - John Lennon.  It's a lovely scene filled with childhood memory and imagination.  

I have not read A DEADLY SILVER SEA yet; but it's on its way to me (wish it would HURRY!).  

The latest in the series was actually the first one I read - BAJA FLORIDA.  I'm not going to tell you about this one 'cause if you're a person who likes to read a series in order, this would include some major spoilers.  Suffice to say, as soon as I read it, I was hooked and immediately started reading the series beginning with BAHAMARAMA.

And so, to Mr. Morris - a great big Thank You!  Here's to many more adventures with Zack Chasteen, Barbara and Boggy and the rest of the renegades they meet along the way.  God love 'em.  




For full FTC disclosure.
Baja Florida was a gift from the author,
the others - I bought.
No payment of any kind has been made for the above stated opinion.

How My Mother-in-Law Helped Me With a Murderer by Clea Simon

Clea Simon is the author of the Dulcie Schwartz series that started last year with Shades of Grey and continues this month with Grey Matters. She has also written the Theda Krakow mysteries, Mew is for Murder, Cattery Row, Cries and Whiskers, and Probable Claws, and several nonfiction books. She has excerpts up on her home site at

//http://www.cleasimon.com//  
and blogs at //http://cleasimon.blogspot.com// 
Follow her on Twitter @Clea_Simon/ 

 

Cats keep coming up in Clea Simon's mysteries. While real cats and real feline health and safety issues figured prominently in her Theda Krakow series, in her new Dulcie Schwartz series, the felines are a bit more fanciful. In fact, Dulcie keeps seeing and hearing the ghost of her late, great cat, who seems to be looking out for her and for her new kitten as her second mystery, Grey Matters, opens. But while writing Grey Matters, it wasn't the supernatural that was bothering Clea. It was the very human question: What would make anyone commit murder?

 

How My Mother-in-Law Helped Me With a Murderer 

by Clea Simon

My mother-in-law thought the murder made sense. When I outlined how one particular suspect could have done it, she nodded sagely – as only a 93-year-old lifelong reader can – and weighed in. “We’re all capable of horrible things,” she said, “if we’re provoked.”

Now, this was a friendly discussion. My husband and I were taking Sophie out to brunch. But I was in the throes of plotting my new Dulcie Schwartz mystery, Grey Matters, and I was too distracted to simply chat about the family or the strawberry butter for the popovers. And so I had hijacked the conversation, in order to get some feedback.

Grey Matters was still in the planning stage then. My publisher, Severn House, wanted a follow up to Shades of Grey, and I needed to get a synopsis to my editor, and I was having trouble. I had my victim. He’s the kind of smug pretty boy who almost (almost) deserves to get killed. He sure had a lot of enemies. And I had pretty strong ideas about who his ultimate enemy was going to be, but I wasn’t quite sure. And so I brought up the big question:

Have you ever thought about what would drive you to murder?

What would motivate you to kill? Answering that question is one of the major challenges of writing mysteries. After all, I prefer the kind of whodunits where the crime comes from a believable human source. You know, a crime of passion – the murder of a cheating spouse or the accidental thwacking of a lousy roommate – rather than those serial-killer thrillers where someone has a taste for blood. And so I’ve got to spend some time thinking, “what would make /me/ kill?”

It’s fun, in a way. I mean, we all get angry. But it’s also a pretty difficult question to answer. I have never killed anyone. Not even close. So making that leap of faith can be hard.

“She’s upset. She’s emotional…” Sophie was making the case for one of my suspects. I had presented this character as my first choice for murderer. And Sophie, being a loving and supportive woman, was trying to play along. “So maybe she does something. She’d probably regret it afterward.”

She was right – but something was wrong. I knew that the character we were discussing – one of the academics who populate Dulcie Schwartz’s insular little world – was troubled. While I love academia, I do realize that the people who devote themselves to books can be, well, a little removed from reality. Even my heroine, Dulcie, is a bit naïve at times. A graduate student, writing her doctoral thesis on an obscure Gothic novel, she thinks she’s very rational. She’s certainly very smart. But she can be a tad blind about the people around her. It’s one of her endearing traits – and one of the reasons the ghost of her late, great cat, Mr. Grey, has chosen to stick around and take care of her. However, she likes this character. Could this character really be the killer?

Sophie was trying, she really was. She knew that I needed to get started writing. But as I spoke to her, I realized that we were both trying too hard. The character I’d pegged – the one I was setting up as a villain – might be troubled, but she was no killer. I needed to look elsewhere until, sure enough, I found the bad apple hiding among my characters.

It took me a while, and it wasn’t until the popovers were long gone that I found my villain. But when I did, I called Sophie and told her my news.

“I can’t wait to read it,” she said. Even though she now knew who the murderer would be. I can’t wait for our next brunch.

A Saturday Morning Meandering

If you've been following Meanderings and Muses for awhile, you know two things.

One.  You know we've had a lot of snow in Boone this winter.  You'll know that 'cause I've whined and grumped about it.  But I've also taken some lovely pictures of it; even mentioned the magic of it.  And I've gotten some fun pictures too, I think.  Harley in the snow is funny, and a thing of joy.

Trying to offset bad with good when I can  -  that seems to be my way of handling most things.   Lord knows I do get grumpy.  But I don't think it's my natural state.  But, a Pollyanna?  I don't think so.  Most of us are a mix of the two, aren't we?  I don't want to be a Pollyanna - I find them to be annoying and mostly insincere.  But I don't want to find myself permanently living at the other end of the spectrum either.  I dearly hope I never become one of those wretched souls.  Bless their hearts; they are pitiful.  And I find pitiful people boring.  Too boring to live.

And that's the second thing you know if you've been hanging out here for awhile - that I have a problem with negativity and consistently negative people, i.e., the "pitiful people."  I've written about my feelings on negativity a couple of times - here at "What Makes You Crazy?" and here again at "It's my blog and I'll rant if I want to . . ."

Herein lies the problem.  I have been a grumpy person this week.  I don't "think" I've become quite as bad as one of the "pitiful people," but I've gotten on my own nerves, I must say.  It hasn't been my best week.  Usually, when I'm grumpy I'm able to find something in the situation to make me at least smile.  I'm able to see a little bit of beauty, a little bit of sweetness, or maybe a lovely little speck of humor.  I'm easily able to spot something absurd in almost anything, and that's usually enough to make me laugh out loud.  One good belly laugh can pretty much help me over the grumpiness hurdle.

This week started off with a toothache, followed by too many painkillers which made me pretty sick, a root canal that didn't really go all that well, antibiotics that weren't settling so well, and then a snow storm that kept us home from work.  Toss all this together and put a big dollop of guilt on top and there's my week.  Pain and Guilt.  WHAT a combination! deadly.

I sent a note to my faculty and co-workers yesterday apologizing for not being there much this week and asked that they bear with me.  The responses I received made me realize how very self-absorbed I had become.  They were sweet, kind, funny, supportive and understanding.  Sometimes we forget just how supportive many of our friends, family and co-workers actually are.  We sometimes just take it for granted.   And a response from my boss made an impact in a big way.  I had mentioned to him in a private note that a girlfriend clued me in that there are some antibiotics that can bring on "the blues."  Maybe I was suffering from a case of the blues.  He wrote back and said he remembered reading somewhere that when someone is suffering from the blues, that they were supposed to buy themselves something red . . .  like a red dress, or red shoes or something.   A direct reference to the piece I wrote which was included in CLOTHES LINES; "Needing a Little Red in My Life."  That he would remember this, and spoon feed it to me at the perfect time was a gift.  A gift of support and friendship and loveliness and was it appreciated more than he'll ever know.

My boss is a man who has been blessed with great bounty in his life.  He's a devoted husband and dad and he dwells within a family to be much admired.  They're an extraordinarily closely knit three-some and there's never a doubt in anyone's mind where their priorities lie - although never to the exclusion of others in their lives.  Their number one priority lies within themselves.  Within their unit.  And because of the sureness of their love and trust in this unit, it has, I think, given them a generosity of spirit that is quite lovely to find yourself a part of.  They're always there for others when needed.  Always.  Not in ways to bring themselves into the forefront, but to give support and solace in the quietness of sincerity. 

In the meantime, I must admit - even when I've tried really really hard to hold on to my grumpiness and not respond to the antics of my own crazy little family; Donald and Harley, darn if I haven't lost that battle every time.  They are clowns.  Both of them.  Silly as hell.  Crazy as loons, funny as all get-out and I am luckier than I deserve to be to have them.  They have both managed to make me laugh this week.  A lot.  Loudly.  And I thank them.

So, what's my point with all this?

I have no idea.

I'm just rambling.  Sometimes it feels good to just ramble on about thoughts and feelings going nowhere in particular until a point of clarity pops up.

My point of clarity, I think, is that although I use this particular trite little saying often, it is, at base, my truth  -

Life is good.


Happy Saturday, y'all!


p.s. - Yep, expecting more snow today.  So I've made us a big pot of vegetable, beef and barley soup.  yum.  And about that root canal?  Feeling MUCH better - Yay!!!

another p.s. - Anyone want to share what magic they use to fight the blues??  Read, write, sleep, paint, make music, run, retail therapy, throw pots . . .

Long Live The Book! by Sandra Parshall

Sandra Parshall's Broken Places, published this month, is her third mystery featuring veterinarian Rachel Goddard. It has received starred reviews from Library Journal, which praised its “sharp prose”, and Publishers Weekly, which said the story “grips readers from the opening page with a suspenseful plot that will leave them breathless.”

Sandra’s debut novel, The Heat of the Moon, won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Her second book, Disturbing the Dead, was one of three mystery/suspense finalists for the Benjamin Franklin Award, given by the Independent Book Publishers Association.

She lives in the Washington, DC, suburbs with her husband Jerry, a longtime Washington journalist. When she isn’t writing, she’s either taking pictures or taking orders from her two demanding cats, Gabriel and Emma.

Long Live The Book!
by Sandra Parshall

A book is a wondrous thing, a compact vessel crammed with life and death, love and hate, joy and despair, giving us portraits of the real world or worlds that exist only in our imaginations.

All of this magic created with little marks on paper. Words.

Those little marks, with their angles and curves, can make us cry and laugh and explode with anger. They can instruct us, soothe us, and break our hearts.

The concept of The Book is arguably mankind’s greatest achievement. Humans, alone among animals, are blessed not with one written language but with many. We have used our languages for less than noble purposes – to attack each other, to sell deodorant, to explain how to use a microwave. But we have also recorded the history of our species, explored our diverse cultures, illuminated the world we live in.  And with language and books we have given expression to the uniquely human talent for storytelling.

When I was growing up in a household with few books, I dreamed of having shelves filled with them. I loved the look and feel of books. I thought I knew exactly what a book was: a bound, printed volume I could hold in my hands.

All these years later, I still love books, but I’ve let go of that limited definition. I now own more printed books than I know what to do with. I can’t store them all, much less find time to read every one. I’ve learned to appreciate paperless books. I’ve been checking out unabridged audiobooks from the library for years, and I’m willing to buy new books as audio downloads. I don’t own a Kindle or Sony Reader, but sometimes I wish I did, when I consider how much storage space they liberate.

I still love the words, but I no longer demand that they be printed and bound.  The words themselves, in whatever form, are The Book.

I know a lot of people who cling to the belief that the physical form of a book is as important as the words it contains. Some of my friends declare they will never touch an e-book reader because each purchase of a Kindle or Sony Reader pushes “real books” closer to extinction. They see themselves as sentries, standing guard over their beloved books, protecting them from a quick and terrible death. Someone in an online group I belong to recently predicted that printed books will last only as long as those of us who grew up without electronic devices are still around. When our kind dies out, she believes, the electronics-dependent younger generations will discard printed books as too expensive, too bulky, too inconvenient. The revolution will be complete.

I’ll admit the thought makes me sad (and so does the notion that I’m among the last of the dinosaurs, in a sense). I love the look of a wall lined with full bookshelves. I still love striking covers and beautiful type. Those little marks permanently printed on paper still stir my excitement and anticipation. But I have seen the future, and it is digital. Much of our daily reading has already moved out of printed form. Many people now get most of the news through their computers, and every writer I know, down to the most stubborn Luddite, does research online. I even know people who read novels on their multi-function cell phones.

I hope an appreciative audience will always exist for fiction. I don’t care what form people read it in, and I don’t care if they sometimes listen instead of read. Fostering the love of fiction – that’s what we should focus on, not a doomed effort to stop the move to electronic content.

Long live The Book!

And some pictures of my workspace - - -





 My view - -



My muse - -

www.sandraparshall.com
DISTURBING THE DEAD--Benjamin Franklin Award Finalist
THE HEAT OF THE MOON--Agatha Award winner
BROKEN PLACES