Topic of the Day
is
"Graffiti"
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
ah - Fall
What's nicer than cool, crisp days in the mountains?
Not a lot.
These are the kinds of days that get Donald and I out of the house and exploring our own little neck of the woods.
Starting with The Farmer's Market -
That was fun!!
Not a lot.
These are the kinds of days that get Donald and I out of the house and exploring our own little neck of the woods.
Starting with The Farmer's Market -
That was fun!!
Sunday, September 23, 2012
September Photo A Day Challenge - Day 23
Topic of the Day
is
"Souvenir"
my favorite souvenir from Malice Domestic 2012
my favorite souvenir from Malice Domestic 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Channelling Chanel by Bobbi Mumm
Bobbi wrote her first novel, Cream with Your Coffin, and signed with a U.S.
literary agent who is now (still) pitching Cream
with Your Coffin to New York editors. Almost finished her second novel,
thriller De Rigueur Mortis, Bobbi is
already planning the second 1954 Paris thriller and thinking about a research
trip.
Channelling
Chanel
By Bobbi Mumm
As I do final revisions to my 1954 Paris
thriller, De Rigueur Mortis, I spend
a lot of time thinking about Coco Chanel.
The novel’s adventure revolves around Chanel and her Rue Cambon atelier and boutique. In 1954 Coco
Chanel presented her first collection in fifteen years – she’d closed her
premises when war was declared. She already had superstar status along with
notoriety as a probable Nazi collaborator.
It took her very little time to regain her position as the premiere
designer of haute couture. So what is
it about Chanel that keeps us fascinated? Why do we still talk about her, a
full hundred and two years after she opened her first hat shop in Paris? I
think the legend that was Coco Chanel has three roots:
1)
Chanel’s Drive and Personality
From the age of twelve, Coco Chanel was
raised in an orphanage where her father had abandoned her upon her mother’s
death. The nuns taught her to sew, demanded self-discipline, and placed her in
her first job at a hosiery shop. As well as these skills taught by the nuns, Coco
Chanel had a natural energy and unnerving charisma that swept everyone along
with her in the pursuit of her dreams.
2)
Chanel’s Talent and Vision
Coco Chanel revolutionized fashion. She
proclaimed that clothing should be comfortable (an unfashionable idea) and that
men should not be dressing women. Among Chanel’s many firsts:
Sunbathing: Chanel sported a sun-kissed
visage in 1920. Until then, most women prized a milky-white complexion.
Trousers for women: Coco Chanel borrowed
her lover’s trousers and wore them in public, naturally in the most chic manner
possible.
Little Black Dress: Chanel, in 1926,
released the first “Little Black Dress” as it came to be known.
Lipstick in a Swivel Tube: Before Chanel’s
1920’s innovation lipstick was in a pot.
Quilted handbags, fake pearls, chains as
jacket hem weights and as a visible accessory, knitted, comfortable fabrics for
women, ballerina pumps… The list goes on.
3)
Chanel’s Notoriety and Scandal
Chanel lived for two things, love and her
work. Her passion for the men in her life led her several times deep into
scandal and, once, near-imprisonment. As a young woman she lived in the world
of the demi-monde, the lover of a
succession of several rich play-boys, some of them married. Later, during WWII,
Chanel’s very public affair with a German officer and agent runner in Paris led
her to be arrested after the war on charges of collaboration. Scholars have
never agreed as to Chanel’s involvement as a spy, either only for the Germans
or, as a double-agent, working for the French and British. I choose to believe
the latter.
It is Chanel’s wartime activities that were
of great interest to me as I wrote De
Rigueur Mortis. In 1954, alleged wartime wrongdoing was still extremely
divisive in Paris society. Throw into the mix the start of the Algerian
revolution, France’s loss of Indo-China, and the throngs of young American’s
seeking their muse in Paris and I had a lovely, tumultuous canvas on which to
paint this mystery thriller.
Thank you to Kaye for this chance to write
about what I love. So tell me, what do you find most interesting or inspiring
about Coco Chanel?
Friday, September 21, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Two Women Chat . . . Hilary Davidson and Robin Spano
Hilary’s claim that she will do anything
for a story is something that she’s had a few opportunities to regret. It sounds
great until she finds herself diving for shipwrecks in the icy waters of the St.
Lawrence River or swimming with sharks in the Bahamas.
She got her start in journalism in 1995, when she moved to New
York for five months to intern at Harper’s Magazine.
When Hilary returned to Toronto, she joined the staff of Canadian Living magazine as a copy editor. Her first
freelance article, “Death Takes a Holiday” — about a
New Orleans cemetery — was published by The Globe &
Mail. She left her day job to write full-time in June 1998.Her work as a travel writer has allowed her to visit places such as Peru, Easter Island, and Israel. Ironically, Hilary has spent much of her time writing books about her hometown, Toronto, and her adopted city, New York, where she’s lived since October 2001. She’s written 11 editions of Frommer’s Toronto and the first edition of Frommer’s New York City Day by Day, in addition to co-authoring five editions of Frommer’s Canada. In March 2008, she launched the Gluten-Free Guidebook, a website for people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance. (Hilary was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2004).
Robin grew up in downtown Toronto and now lives in Lions Bay, BC. When she’s not lost in fiction, she loves to get outside snowboarding, hiking, boating, and riding the curves of the local highways in her big black pick-up truck.
Her historical role model is Winston Churchill, more for his independent thinking than his drinking. Her secret dream was to be one of Charlie’s Angels, but since real life danger terrifies her, she writes crime fiction instead.
She’s a founding member of Off The Page Toastmasters – a public speaking group for writers. She’s also active with Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime’s Toronto Chapter.
She is married to a man who hates reading and encourages her endlessly. Which is great, because it’s Keith who drags her away from her computer to do all those fun things outside.
Two Women Chat …
by Hilary Davidson and Robin Spano
Hilary: The highlight of my summer was the week I spent at
your house in June. In a way, I still can't believe it happened. One minute, we
were talking about doing an event with a couple of other writers, and then
suddenly, I was at your house in B.C. with Ian Hamilton and Deryn Collier, and
we had a week of events together. All of this after I met you for two minutes
at Bouchercon in San Francisco! When I started writing crime fiction, I didn't
expect that it would lead to making new friends and having slumber parties at
their houses, but it has. Writing fiction has made my real life more surreal.
Does it ever feel that way to you?
Robin: Surreal, um, definitely. Maybe because our job
description is to go deep into our heads for several hours and write down the
things we see in there. And then share those happenings with the world in the
most public way possible.
At first I found that contrast hard – and I think I wrote
more superficially about my characters, as a form of self-protection. But the
more I write, the more natural it feels to pull the truth out from deeper
inside, let my characters be more flawed and more real. In some ways, I think
the most neurotic parts of ourselves are the most universally interesting to
readers.
What really shocks me is how fun I'm finding the public part
of the job. That tour with you and Ian and Deryn was a highlight of my summer
too. I loved our late night gossip sessions with wine in the hot tub.
I also enjoyed our CBC interview. Kevin Sylvester asked some
great questions, like how we handle genre snobbery – that phenomenon where
highbrow literary readers dismiss genre fiction out of hand. I find it easy to
dismiss any snob back – I feel like they're the one limiting their world by
shutting a portion of it out. But I have crime writer friends who get really
bothered by being slapped with a philistine label. What's your take?
Hilary: I think "literary fiction" is mostly a
marketing term. If a book has an instantly recognizable theme — mystery/crime,
sci-fi, romance, dystopian universe — it gets lumped into genre. Calling a book
"literary fiction" is, to me, an acknowledgment that nobody can
figure out what box it fits into. It's like a big bin of miscellaneous prose,
some brilliant and some decidedly not.
Being snobby about it seems silly when you look at the issue
from that perspective, but some people are. I got an email a week ago from
someone my husband went to school with, saying — I'm paraphrasing here — that she
wanted to write a mystery novel because that would be so much easier than a
literary book. To my mind, that's even crazier than someone saying, "I
only read literary fiction, not mysteries," which I've heard more than a
few times. When I hear that, I know I'm talking to a person who wants to be
seen as smart and tasteful, and has some insecurities about it.
Talking like this makes me feel like I'm back in your hot
tub, wineglass in hand. What surprised me about staying at your house was that
I got a lot of writing done that week. I never thought I'd be able to stick to
my schedule with other people around. What's your writing schedule like when
you aren't taking care of a house full of writers?
Robin: Ha ha. I hope your friend is reading this. I originally
thought I'd start with a mystery because it would be easier to write too. (I'm
a reformed genre snob, true confession.) But I quickly found that it was harder
because not only do you have to make sure the characters have interesting
growth arcs and the dialogue rings true and all the other facets of
"literary" fiction, but you have to fit in clues and red herrings and
suspects in a way that keeps the reader guessing and satisfies their curiosity
at the end. I love the puzzle-making aspect of writing crime fiction – for me,
the craft is the perfect blend of art and science – but there is no way anyone
could convince me a mystery is easier to write.
I had a friend email me last week. He's a literary writer
trying his hand at a chick lit novel. Which I totally love – I think it's great
for writers to explore lots of genres and formats. But he asked me if he should
dumb down (okay, he called it "simplify") his language to cater to
genre fiction readers. He's a smart guy, and I understand where his question was
coming from, but I told him no way. I give my reader full credit for having a
brain. I explained that the only difference between literary and genre fiction
is that genre has a specific plot designed to entertain, and literary, well,
uh, needs no plot, really.
Normal writing schedule = first thing in the morning,
always. Then the day could take on different shapes. This week I have a
gardening project I'm passionate about, so after I've worked for a couple of
hours I get my grubby clothes on and go out and play with my hoe and the
bramble roots. Gardening, I'm learning, is great for mulling fiction. Sometimes
I mix in some socializing – I'll meet a friend for coffee or lunch or a walk in
the woods. Other days I'm intense and write all day. I think my favorite breaks
involve driving – the Sea-to-Sky Highway has these wicked curves and gorgeous
scenery; it relaxes me to spend time on it.
What's your schedule like? Living in Manhattan, it must be
hard to stay at your desk all day.
Hilary: I remember the Sea-to-Sky Highway from my visit —
that was so beautiful. In some ways, New York is full of distractions, but when
I leave my apartment, I feel like I'm on a research mission. I walk a couple of
miles each day, and things I see and overhear end up finding their way into my
work. I also work out a lot of problems with plots while I'm walking. When I'm
sitting at my desk, it can be hard to take a step back and get the perspective
I need. Letting my mind wander while I walk frees me up to work out knots in
the book.
My schedule is pretty steady. I like to write in the
morning, partly because I can keep a leash on my social-media usage and web
surfing. In the afternoon, I'm much more distractible. I'll have 50 news
stories open in my browser, thanks to my Twitter friends. I sometimes write in
the evening, too, usually when I'm in the closing stretch of a novel.
I tend to get consumed by what I'm writing. Dan jokes about
me wandering into traffic when I'm working on a first draft, especially with a
book. I see the story through the main character's eyes and that puts me inside
Lily's head for extended periods of time. But it's an odd feeling, because I'm
also on the outside of the story, peering in. I know all of these things about
her that she would never tell anyone. It's a strange, complicated relationship,
because we have some things in common (we're both travel writers) but there's a
lot that's different (our family histories and personal lives). What's in like
for you, writing about a character that has some of your traits (like your love
of motorcycles!)?
Robin: I think you've said it really well – the relationship
between Clare and me is strange and complicated.
I have enough in common with Clare that I feel perfectly
comfortable crawling into her skin and seeing the world from behind her eyes.
Because she's young and hot-blooded, I especially like taking out my real life
rage through her fictional temper.
She's also different enough that I don't feel like I'm
writing an autobiography. She's more fearless, more confident, she'd prefer
watching TV to reading a book. And I really don't understand how Clare can
prefer that watery piss they call Bud over the full-flavored IPAs I like to
drink, but she is who she is, right? That's the thing about a character – they
take on their own life, and you just have to let them be who they are,
documenting what you can catch of them.
I think my favorite part of writing about Clare is the
vicarious living. I choose her cases based on where I'd like to go undercover –
a poker tournament, a ski resort town. I'm thinking maybe Hong Kong next. How
do you choose Lily's next destination?
Hilary: It's mostly intuition. With THE NEXT ONE TO FALL, I
never had a moment of doubt. I always knew the book would be set in Peru, and I
never considered setting it anywhere else. With the third book, EVIL IN ALL ITS
DISGUISES, the process was different because of legal concerns. Even though
that book is pure fiction, it was inspired by the very real, and very tragic,
story of a Frommer's editor who went missing at a resort in the Caribbean. My
agent was worried about the legal implications of basing the novel in a similar
setting. I ended up deciding to use Acapulco as the setting, largely because of
its Hollywood history — Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra vacationed there,
Elizabeth Taylor married Mike Todd there, John Wayne owed a resort there.
Acapulco has a glittering past and a gritty present, which made it perfect,
since it's the kind of spot Lily would gravitate toward. The irony: I've never
been to Acapulco! I didn't want to pretend that I had, either, so all of the
Acapulco scenes take place in a hotel where a journalist goes missing and Lily
becomes a virtual prisoner. Being trapped at the hotel ends up giving the book
a Gothic feel, which I wanted.
I feel that there are a lot of happy accidents that work
their way into my writing, and discovering Acapulco's Hollywood history was one
of them. Does that ever happen to you when you're writing?
Robin: Ha ha, I'm glad you didn't write a fake travelogue of
Acapulco. I'm looking forward to reading this glass castle third book of yours!
Yeah, happy coincidences happen all the time. Most times
when I run into a wall, the creative work-around ends up leading me to
someplace much more rich and interesting than if I'd been able to go in a
straight line like I'd originally planned. My third book, DEATH'S LAST RUN, was
absolutely brutal to write. I'd get one plot line in place then realize I'd
just pulled the rug out from under another plot line. I was six months late
delivering it to my publisher because I just couldn't get all the threads
working together. It was research help from my friend Christine that finally
clicked everything into place. The find turned out to be a discussion of the
war on drugs from the perspective of Latin American political leaders – a plot
thread that's tiny compared with the full story, but a missing link can come
from absolutely anywhere.
Okay, so I have to ask. This Stephen Leather guy who
initiated the sock puppet scandal by bragging about writing fake reviews of his
own work – he claims that all writers do it. He's wrong, right? I mean, am I
naively in the dark, or did this guy do a line of blow before the panel where
he said that? Have you ever written a review under a fake name? Is it really
common practice, do you think?
Hilary: I refuse to believe this is a common practice. Of
course, people who do it are going to want to hide behind the "everyone's
doing it!" fig leaf, but it takes a particularly pathetic, shameless ego
to go down that road. I've never written a review under a fake name. There are
some things that would make you lose self-respect, and that's one of them.
Though, I have to add, I can forgive authors who have written fake reviews to
praise their own work. What I can't forgive are authors who used sock-puppet
accounts to trash other writers' books. What R.J. Ellory did is so hateful, it
defies description. Finding out that a writer anonymously trashed their
competition guarantees that I will never pick up that writer's books.
It's disappointing, because the crime-fiction community
overall is such a happy, supportive place. I remember the first conference I
went to — that was Boucheron in San Francisco in 2010 — and how astonishingly
kind people were. Have you felt that, too?
Robin: Yeah. I was petrified of that conference. My first
book had been out for two weeks and I knew no one. But about five minutes in, I
was already comfortable. People talk to you everywhere. Readers and bloggers
love talking to writers, writers love dishing with other writers. There's no
dead room, no loser table – just a bunch of awesome connections waiting to
happen.
I attribute that awesome community to two things. First,
crime writers can afford to be supportive. Because so many readers love
mysteries and suspense novels, the sales pie is big enough that there's a slice
for everyone who figures out the magic formula – i.e., how to connect with an
audience. Second – and you may have heard me say this before – we take our rage
out on the page. All our negative emotions have an outlet, since we're writing
about dark things. In real life, that leaves us pretty chill.
I also have to credit social media for keeping writerly
relationships alive. I met you for two minutes MAX, and I was totally
intimidated by you because you just seemed so polished on and top of the scene
(and as you left the room, some hot young guy was asking for your number). But
then you Tweeted about seeing my book in a Barnes & Noble in Union Square,
and I love Union Square and that made me feel like I was there with you. So I
read your book and saw so much warmth inside you that I wanted to know you
more. And I mean, from there, there was no stopping us – from wasting time
online to being completely inappropriate at dinner parties, you're one of my
very favorite friends in this crime writing community.
Hilary: That feeling is completely mutual, Robin. The great
surprise about crime writing, for me, is that it’s brought so many wonderful
people into my life.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
September Photo A Day Challenge - Day 16
Topic of the Day
is
"Strange"
This is Laffing Sal. She used to live in front of The Fun House on The Boardwalk in Ocean City, MD and I loved her.
She was gone for awhile, but now she lives in the little Ocean City Museum and with just the press of a button I can hear her laugh again.
She was gone for awhile, but now she lives in the little Ocean City Museum and with just the press of a button I can hear her laugh again.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Across the Line by Jonathan Quist
Across the Line
Our lives are defined, divided and delineated by lines.
Lots of lines.
Propertly lines. Boundary lines. Party lines. Border lines. Battle
lines. Date lines. Enemy lines. Bloodlines. Deadlines. Soup lines. Bread lines.
There are phone lines, FAX lines, modem lines, dialup lines,
and other lines of communication.
Transportation lines: bus lines, rail lines, airlines, cruise
lines, freight lines, shipping lines, ratlines, shroud lines, bowlines.
Lines of credit. Lines of inquiry. Lines of demarcation. Isotropic
lines. Foul lines. Redlines. White lines. Yellow lines. Double yellow lines. Center
lines. Product lines. Bathroom lines. Squall lines. Lifelines. Panty lines.
Lunch lines. Waistlines. Waterlines. Fishing lines. Septic lines. Pickup lines.
Putdown lines. Opening lines. Straight lines. Punchlines. Pipelines. Gas lines.
Brake lines.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
Many of these lines interweave and intersect. In the past
year, in part because of my bloodline, I have taken an active interest in
reducing my waistline, which led to interaction with center lines, white lines,
starting lines and finish lines and a few observations along the way.
To state it a bit more clearly: I watched my father lose his
connection to reality through the side effects of long-term diabetes. I was
diagnosed around the same age as he was, but I began my married life later than
he. I still have a lot of things left to accomplish, a lot of life left to
live, so smiling and nodding when the doctor says “diet and exercise” was no
longer an option. This was another wakeup call, and rather than hit the snooze
button, I had to get off my butt and get to work. I used to run in my youth,
and enjoyed it then. A running friend encouraged me to give it another try. So,
I did.
As I crossed the line from a sedentary to active lifestyle,
I decided that to succeed, I had to avoid boredom at any cost. To those who can
walk or run on a treadmill or other stationary machinery for an hour at a time,
I tip my cap to you. I cannot. Boredom has derailed past exercise programs; I
need the variety found out-of-doors. (I used to pass time walking on a
treadmill by reading, until the heart-rate-controlled machine performed an
emergency shutdown when I reached the climax of a Nelson deMille novel. As
Detective John Corey found himself in dire peril, I forgot to breathe, my heart
rate shot through the roof, and were it so wired, the machine would have dialed
911.)
In Suburbia, USA, running outdoors pretty much means running
on streets; in early morning darkness suburban sidewalks are hazardous places to
walk, much less run due to kids’ toys, uneven seams in the concrete, and
neighbors who insist on parking their cars squarely across the sidewalk rather
than in their driveways. (If anyone has insight into this behavior, please
enlighten the rest of us!) To preserve my neck, I took to the streets.
Heeding advice of wiser souls, I crossed the line and ran on
the left, against traffic. This affords the advantage of seeing the car before
it hits you, which is useful if you survive and the driver leaves the scene. Given the number of drivers I see using their
mobile phone line rather than their line of sight, this advice is far more
practical than one might hope. The addition of a reflective yellow vest moved
most of the cars back across the line. I attribute this to the prevalence of
“Fines Double in Work Zones” signs in Illinois.
It’s a sad comment on our society that to some drivers, I
did not exist unless I presented an obvious threat to their wallet. Many behave
as if they value their personal convenience more highly than another human
life. One positive thing I can say about that: When you’re running on the edge
of a narrow road hugging the white line by a ditch and a Chevy Suburban comes
hurtling toward you, your exercise session is not boring. But I digress.
I had never run competitively before, so competition was not
part of the original plan, but organized races provide some benefits to running
as exercise. For one, they provide a reason to set a goal. The goal could be to
complete the race below a certain time, to set a new personal record. Or to
finish without walking. Or to finish at all. (I learned pretty quickly that
“finish in the top three” is not a realistic goal. There is always someone
younger and faster running the race.)
Organized races also provide a fun atmosphere. After running
mostly alone for 3 months, it was a blast doing so with 500 other people. And
the sponsors give you free stuff! And post-race snacks! After carefully
controlling my food intake, it was nice to have someone offer me a half bagel with
peanut butter and be able to accept it with a smile, because I knew I’d already
burned those calories on the course.
There was an unexpected side effect.
By the time I registered for the Vernon Hills Loop the Lakes
5k, I had already started thinking of myself as a runner, rather than just a
guy who liked to watch TV with a cold beer in hand. By the second lap I crossed another line in
my head, and began to think of myself not as a runner, but as a racer.
I’m not racing against other runners – as I’ve said, there
are plenty of fast people out there. I’m not going to pick up any medals. I am
racing against myself.
And I am winning.
I have run in four 5k races, and finished just above the
middle of the pack in all of them. I was not in line for any medals, but my
personal physician gave me a prize anyway. She said I don’t need to bother with
the prescription meds for diabetes, blood pressure or cholesterol anymore.
I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop. So far,
though, the only shoes I hear are my own. Meanwhile, I’m signed up for a couple
of 10k races. I expect to be ready for a half marathon by next summer, a full
marathon in a year or two. (Note: There are “Couch to Marathon in 16 Weeks!”
training plans available. Don’t believe them. Start small. 5k races are cheap
and fun. More fun than physical therapy.)
This is not all meant to garner “Attaboy, Jonny!” replies.
It’s more of a “Who? Me?” story. A year ago the very notion that I’d not only
be moving, but that I’d be running 20+ miles every week would have been
far-fetched. But here I am. And it all started with a simple decision to go for
a walk. If I can do it, nearly anybody
can do it. You can do it! If you can’t run a mile, run around the block. If
you can’t run around the block, walk around the block. If you can’t walk around
the block, walk to the mailbox. Or walk across a parking lot rather than
waiting 20 minutes for a space next to the door. Or just walk past the snack
aisle on your way to the produce aisle. You can do it. And crossing that line
can change your life.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
September Photo A Day Challenge - Day 11
Topic of the Day is "Hero"
I don't know the names of my hero(es). I've hugged them and I've cried in their arms, but I don't know their names.
They're the doctors and nurses and staff who were working in the Emergency Room of Watauga Medical Center on May 14, 2010 when my Donald suffered a heart attack. They're the people who revived him and brought him back to me.
The're the emergency team who flew him in a helicopter to Mission Memorial Hospital in Asheville
They're the doctors, nurses and staff at Mission Memorial.
They're the staff at The Sheraton in Asheville who took good care of me and Harley for the week we lived there.
They're the people who prayed for us and helped Donald live, recover and thrive.
They're the angels who walk this earth disguised as humans.
thank you
Monday, September 10, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
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