Monday, March 16, 2020

Leprechauns in Leinster, by J.C. Kavanagh




Short-listed for Best Young Adult Book 2018,
The Word Guild



The rolling hills and mountains around County Leinster are home to Ireland's famous attraction: the leprechaun. The wee fellows, and there are only fellows, stand about two feet tall and are known for their mischievous shenanigans. According to folklore, the leprechauns live in 'faery mounds' found under solitary trees. 


They are talented shoe-makers (only the Irish would conjure up a tradesman fairy) and love to dance so much that they wear out the soles of their shoes. True! If you are able to outsmart a leprechaun and catch him, you may be able to find his pot of gold. He will grant you three wishes in order to be released but since he has magical powers and can disappear in an instant, the chances of having your wishes granted are slim.



If you scoff at the idea of actual leprechauns dancing around the Irish countryside, scoff no more. Under European Law, leprechauns are an endangered species. Don't laugh, it's true, I'm not uttering a single dollop of Blarney. In 1992, the European Commission declared that a forested area in County Carlingford be officially protected land for the estimated 200+ leprechauns that live there. This land is under the
European Habitats Directive.



Oh, those Irish! My own Kavanagh clan hail back to the Kings and Queens of County Leinster in the 11th century, well before England invaded the Emerald Isle. Hmmm, I think there may be an historical story brewing...

If you love a good tale, then you'll love my books, The Twisted Climb and the sequel, The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends. Find out for yourself why both books were voted Best Young Adult Book in 2016 and 2018. Enjoy!





J.C. Kavanagh, author of
The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends (Book 2)
voted BEST Young Adult Book 2018, Critters Readers Poll and Best YA Book FINALIST at The Word Guild, Canada
AND
The Twisted Climb,
voted BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers Poll
Novels for teens, young adults and adults young at heart
Email: author.j.c.kavanagh@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/J.C.Kavanagh
www.amazon.com/author/jckavanagh
Twitter @JCKavanagh1 (Author J.C. Kavanagh)


Sunday, March 15, 2020

Remebering Einstein





On March 14, 1879, a hundred-and-forty-one years ago, a son was born to Hermann Einstein, an engineer and salesman, and Pauline Koch, in the kingdom of Wurttemberg, in present-day Germany. Pauline was well-educated and showed a passion for music. It was on her insistence that Albert Einstein took up violin lessons at the age of five, which developed into a life-long passion.

The young Einstein was slow in learning to speak. In fact, his condition prompted his parents to seek medical help. But this disorder affected his learning in positive ways. His imagination was astounding: he tended to think in terms of images rather than words. When his father gifted him a compass at age five, he puzzled constantly over the nature of magnetism.

He tended to be rebellious, questioning conventional wisdom, which resulted in his being expelled from one school and for another headmaster to famously declare that the child would never amount to much.

Despite his struggles in speech, Einstein showed his genius quite early, especially in mathematics. In primary school, his gift for this subject became apparent and he obtained the highest marks in his class, performing far above the school requirements. By age twelve, he had mastered applied arithmetic and decided to learn algebra and geometry on his own, which he did over a summer vacation.

His great breakthroughs in physics came directly from his thinking in images. He conducted a series of mental experiments, which he named Gedankenexperiment, or thought experiments. At age sixteen, he imagined what it would be like to ride alongside a beam of light. But the dictates of the physics of the day didn’t correspond to his imagination. He wrestled with that mind experiment until, ten years later, he arrived at his Special Theory of Relativity, a ground breaking theory that shattered the conclusions of Newtonian physics.

In 1905, at the age of twenty-six, Einstein worked at a patent office in Switzerland, as he was neither able to get a doctoral dissertation accepted nor obtain an academic job. Despite working six days a week, he produced four papers in his spare time that changed the course of history. The first showed that light could be described as waves as well as particles, leading to the field of quantum physics. The second proved the existence of atoms and molecules. The third, the Special Theory of Relativity, said that there was no absolute time or space. And finally the fourth propounded and equivalence between light and mass, represented by the famous equation E=mc2.


Much of what we take for granted today comes from the work of this great physicist. Among these are cell-phones, satellite communications, lasers, semiconductors and atomic power. And many future discoveries still await unfolding, such as space travel and quantum computing. Rarely has one man’s work entirely changed the course of history. Einstein is one such man.

Mohan Ashtakala is the author of "The Yoga Zapper," a fantasy and "Karma Nation," a literary romance. www.mohanashtakala.com, www.bookswelove.net.

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Keep safe...by Sheila Claydon





COVID 19, or Coronavirus as it is more commonly known, is taking over the world. Countries are putting the most drastic measures in place to contain it and, in the process, damaging the global economy, causing what may be fatal disruptions to some small businesses, and upsetting the normal routines of their citizens. Despite what is still a relatively small number of people affected when measured against the world population, it has everyone running scared.  Especially those who have compromised immune systems because of other underlying illnesses, and the elderly.

Although I have visited many other countries around the world and know some of them well, in this instance I can only speak for the attitudes of the people in the UK, where measures different from those of the rest of Europe and beyond are beginning to unfold.  The decisions are based on the developing science of Coronavirus as well as from discussions with experts across the world. Only time will tell if they are the right decisions. In the meantime there is a new problem. The influence of social media. Despite clear and repeated guidance from medical experts, and despite there being 24 hour advice and access to free medical care, many people and organisations are beginning to panic and, instead, to copy the restrictions that are happening elsewhere. Again only time will tell if these personal decisions will interfere with the science the government is trying to follow. In the meantime most of us are doing the best to get on with our lives, especially the older members of the population even though they are in the high risk category.

Where I am life is continuing more or less as normal. The only difference is that everyone is making sure their larders and refrigerators are well stocked just in case they have to self-isolate, and this is a community top heavy with older people. Jokes about the situation circulate daily, neighbours wave cheerily and there is not a mask to be seen. Attitudes have been likened to the blitz spirit of 'we are all in this together' in WW2. Of course it will only take a couple of local cases for this to change but in the meantime the writer in me is fascinated by the phlegmatic attitude of so many people. Maybe growing up immediately after the war when food was rationed and choice was limited has had a long term effect, or maybe it's because older people have so much life experience that they are less easily frightened. Or maybe it's just that because so many of them don't follow social media that they remain exempt from the fears percolating the rest of the world.

Whatever it is, it is to be admired, and it is that spirit that is imbued in the very elderly grandmother as well as in some of the other older characters in my book Remembering Rose. Whatever happens in the world, writers can't help storing up the experience for future use. In the meantime, my cupboards are full, my family is safe, the sun is shining and the dog is asking for a walk.

Until this is over, stay safe and take care. Tomorrow is another day.

Friday, March 13, 2020

What's in a Book Title?





Most authors think hard and long about the titles of their novels. They need to be memorable, of course.  How to find the perfect title?

We can go to the classics... Some of what Mark Twain wrote were considered "boys' stories" in their time. And so his titles were meant to draw the interest of this audience...The Adventures of Huckeberry Finn, Tom Sawyer.  Very what you see is what you get. When I was writing my adventure novels for young people, a seasoned author advised me to follow Mark Twain's example and so: The Ghosts of Stony Clove got a title. (She also told me not to be afraid to put ghosts in the title!)

Mark Twain, who knew a cracking good story

How about those one word titles... they are easy to remember!...Jaws, Jazz, Beloved, Atonement, Emma, It, Middlemarch, Mudbound, Room and Outlander come to mind. I've never achieved the magnificent feat of a one word title!  The closest I've gotten is two words: Seven Aprils, my novel of the Civil War that is the first of my American Civil War Brides series.

My two-word title novel

Some titles are beautifully poetic and evocative...To Kill A Mockingbird, Lord of the Ring, Catcher in the Rye, Tender is the Night, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Their Eyes Were Watching God.  Don't those titles make you want to dive into the story? 

My upcoming novel, Mercies of the Fallen came from a beautiful song written and performed by my one-time neighbor Dar Williams. Mercy of the Fallen. It begins:

Oh my fair North Star, 
I have held to you dearly,
I had asked you to steer me...

Those lyrics spoke to me as I was writing this story of damaged people growing in grace and beauty through the travails of war. Here's more of what proved deeply meaningful to me 
in my own storytelling:

There's the wind and the rain, and the mercy of the fallen...
There's the weak and the strong and the many stars that guide us, 
we have some of them inside us

Speaking of song lyrics, I used popular songs of the 1940s to title my romantic suspense Code Talker Chronicles. The first is I'll Be Seeing You because my team of Luke Kayenta and Kitty Charante have not yet met, but Luke's longing for Kitty is already in place.  In Watch Over Me, they have their first adventure together. This sets the stage for what they'll do from now on: watch over each other.  Book 3?  How does All of Me (one of my mom's favorites) sound?

Book 1
Book 2




Thursday, March 12, 2020

How a Pandemic Inspired my Writing

                                  Please click this link for purchase and author information 

In 2009 my husband Will and I spent a month in Italy. I hadn't been to Europe in fourteen years 
and was eager to return to its history and culture, but a little anxious about the adventure. Shortly before we were due to leave, the swine flu hit Mexico and the United States. Unlike most flus, including the current Coronavirus (COVID-19), the swine flu (H1N1) didn't largely kill the elderly and sick. A strain of the 1918 Spanish influenza virus, many healthy, younger people succumbed to H1N1, which quickly spread to Europe. People talked of a worldwide pandemic. And here we were setting out on a plane into this risky situation. I thought of cancelling the trip. But, out of my anxiety came an idea for a short story. A man, grieving the death of his wife, travels through Italy, worried about catching the swine flu. I'd call the story "Pandemic."

2009 H1N1 (Swine flu) Pandemic - laboratory confirmed cases and deaths
In the Rome airport, I noticed several people wearing surgical masks. This struck me as unusual, but now would be common for travel at any time. When I later wrote the story, I included this detail along with others I wrote in a journal I carried through Rome, Venice, Tuscany and Sorrento. Will and I rented weekly apartments in these locations, as did Tony, my story protagonist. I took photos and made notes about our residences, which were part of the story landscape along with the tourist attractions that Tony, Will and I visited.. "Pandemic's" first turning point occurs when Tony is impressed by Bernini's sculptures in the Galleria Borghese Museum in Rome. Tony thinks, as I did, that he is witnessing genius. How did Bernini make a pinch of skin on a marble thigh look soft and real?


Aside from occasional sightings of surgical masks, I forgot about the swine flu while absorbing Italy's museums, eating pizza and drinking wine in cafes, exploring ancient sites and warrens of medieval streets. After our trip, The World Health Organization declared H1N1/09 a Pandemic. It was tragic for the people who died. They were far fewer in number than those who die annually from a seasonal flu, and this is expected to be the case with COVID-19.

At home, I returned to my novel-in-progress, but Tony's story kept churning through my mind. Eventually, I sat down and wrote "Pandemic," my first work of fiction set in another country. Aided by my photos and journal notes, I found setting descriptions easier to write than ones in my stories set in Canada. Tony's encounter with two sisters while climbing the Leaning Tower of Pisa felt fresher than scenes of people meeting in ordinary, North American restaurants. I've sometimes thought of  "Pandemic" as part story, part travelogue.

In "Pandemic," Tony and the sisters take comical photos of each other 'holding up' the Leaning Tower of Pisa
"Pandemic" isn't published yet. At almost 12,000 words, it's too long for most short story markets and too short for a novella, much less a novel. I've broken "Pandemic" down into four standalone stories, set in the different Italian locations. The Venice standalone is titled "Gondolier Groupies;"  Tuscany is "La Brezza." Still no luck with publication. Now, COVID-19 has prompted me to dust off  "Pandemic" and revise the whole story again.

I find it interesting to work on a story that aligns with the zeitgeist. Today's constant news and worry about a pandemic infuses Tony's actions and the story descriptions. I'd have thought that immersing myself in the fictional world of a crisis similar to COVID-19 might make me anxious about our present situation. Instead, it's a release from concerns of impending disaster, and this is one reason writers write.

In Venice, Tony embarks on an ill-fated adventure with two young women and a pair of gondoliers

   

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Name That - - - by Karla Stover


AUTHOR OF: Wynters Way (gothic)
                        Murder: When One Isn't Enough (murder on Hood Canal)
                        Murder on the Line (murder in Tacoma, Washington)

and odds and ends on kindle for 99 cts.



Ever since Ricardo Maltalban touted Corinthian Leather in the 1975 Cordoba ad, I have been fascinated by words used to create an emotion. As I result, I've been looking at cars. My husband drives a Toyota Tacoma. I'm not sure what being a Tacoma as opposed to being a Portland or a Boise is supposed to imply but some company man thought it had connotations. And my Honda is an Accord. Is that even a word?

I get what the Subaru Outback, GMC's Denali, and even the Volkswagen Beetle imply, but the Senna? Senna is an herbal laxative. An advertisement for the Senna shows it going really fast, which tickles my off-beat sense of humor. But an herbal laxative seems a really odd name for a car even if  "driving,ca/auto-news calls" it one of the best car names of all times.  


Spitfire works, so do Thunderbird and Mustang, but Mulsanne? Mulsanne is a specific corner on the Le Mans racing circuit. Does everyone but me know that?


Most sports teams have good names--names that hint at where their home is--think Houston Astros reference its NASA Space Center, the Milwaukee Brewers, a nod to the city's brewing history, and the Indiana Pacers which honors the city's harness racing past. Seattle has a new semi-pro football team but they're the Dragons. I don't know of any dragons in Seattle and there are so many cool things that could have been acknowledged--the Cohos (a salmon) the Roosevelts (an elk) or the Fishers, an extremely feisty mammal often found in Mt. Rainier. Now the city is getting a hockey franchise and is thinking about calling it (them?) the Crackens. Not even Google seems to knows what a Cracken is.


Authors have to be careful to chose names that tell us about the character even before we begin reading. Jay Gatsby, Dorian Gray, Holly Golightly all work. Freesia Summers is just awful. I wonder if the author chose it because freesias are hard to grow. 


The website, "name-generator.org.uk" will come up with names based on parameters the user puts in, i.e. sex, character type, nationality, birth year. Peyton, Emery, and Riley are considered weak male names. I don't know any weak female names, and would I say if I did--especially during Women's History Month?


So go ahead Jane, be meek. And be strong Virginia or Grace or Diana. According to your name, you have to bre and we who write will recognize that.

P.S. When Montalbán was asked by David Letterman on Late Night with David Letterman what Corinthian Leather was, "the actor cheerfully admitted that the term meant nothing."

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Soap Bubble Rhetoric


While going through some old writing files, I came across this meandering essay and thought I’d share.

Soap Bubble Rhetoric
Reading my latest copy of a writer’s magazine reminds me I haven’t written anything for quite a while. Anything does not include bill paying, completing rebate forms and make grocery lists.
            Oh, I have lots of ideas. That’s why I’m writing on top of the washer instead of folding clothes. Regardless of the fact I punched the hot button for a load of bright colors, when an idea bubbles forth, I grab a pen.
            As an educator, I have developed numerous ideas and activities that mu students love, so I have been sending queries to educational publishing companies and periodicals. But alas, I can decorate the laundry room with rejections slips. The most ingenious states, “due to a paper shortage, we must return your manuscript.”
            Why is there never a laundry shortage?
            While I may run out of stain remover, I always have another publishing company on my list. So I begin again. Some of my articles have been accepted, but I haven’t gotten paid in the traditional cash method. Many educational journals are forums for professional advancement and writers contribute articles in return for a byline and a few contributors’ copies. While that is fine up to a point, I’ve found it difficult, if not embarrassing, to pay my grocery bill with a copy of my latest published article:
            “Oh, you got published (finally). That will be $41.50 please.”
            Now I shouldn’t be wishy-washy. In addition to contributor’s copies, some educational publications do pay contributors in merchandise. But have you ever tried to use an apron that says, “Teachers are neat” to barter for bleach?
            I pour fabric softener in for the next load and a fantastic idea materializes. I realize I’m writing for the wrong market. Instead of submitting to educational publications, perhaps I can interest soap manufacturers in putting little activities on the sides of their soapboxes to keep kids busy at the Laundromat. Little Bobby can help mom pour soap into the washer and get fun games like “How many words can you make out of Proctor & Gamble?” or a word search for items of clothing washed only in cold water.
            I could create entertaining stories as inserts for detergent boxes with titles like “Soap Bubbles Whisk Grass Stains in Water Polo Finals,” or “Detergent Detectives Collar the Dirt Ring.”
            My hands negligently fold socks as I mentally assemble my next dirt fighting, biodegradable creative effort. The washer gyrates in the background, unaware of my neglect as my mind floats away on a soap bubble.

Barbara Baldwin


Don’t forget to visit the Books We Love website at http://www.bookswelove.com/ for their March contest. Find 4 leprechauns on the authors’ pages, submit their names and win some great prizes! Contest is open until March 17.

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Catching and holding attention by J. S. Marlo



Last weekend, I visited the Police Museum in Calgary. There was an helicopter hanging from the ceiling, a motorcycle, a police cruiser, a jail cell, uniforms, weapons, forensic evidence, the canine unit, and so much more for FREE (https://youthlinkcalgary.com/)

I was chasing a five-year-old who enjoyed locking her uncle, auntie, and grandma in the  jail cell and the police cruiser, so I didn't get to read about the exhibits, programs, and history as much I would have liked, but it was fun. I will go back.

Let me tell you about the bench in the jail cell. It wasn't kind to my bottom. No cushion at all! Sitting in the back of the police cruiser was a big more comfy, but not roomy. There was no legroom, and I'm not a tall woman. It struck me as funny what the police in movies say when they push a beefy 300lbs suspect into the back seat. First, I can't imagine a man that size fitting on the back seat, and second, they should warn him to watch his knees and legs, not his head LOL  They were bars in the windows and the doors didn't open from the inside, so we were at the mercy of a very mischievous little girl.

Before we left, I bought earrings from the museum.  They have a gun attached to a pair of handcuffs. The perfect earrings for a writer who can't help but kill at least one person per book. In all honesty, I'm not sure I will wear them on a daily basis, but I will wear them at my next book signing later in March.


Book signings are interesting events. I get to meet people, but after the initial greeting, something aside from books needs to hold their attention to move the conversation along. At my first book signing, the manager of the book store suggested I mingled with the customers. I thought great idea so I got sticky nametags.

Well, lots of people talked to me...to ask where they could find a certain book. Needless to say, the "nametag" idea didn't work as planned. Most people saw me as another employee.

At the following book signing, I stayed closer to my book display, I still wore a nametag, but I also colored my hair purple and blue. My hair was a great ice breaker, so I've kept coloring it ever since. Now I'm eager to see if these earrings will catch anyone's eyes.

Happy reading...and don't get arrested reading and driving!
JS


 

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Thinking Ahead by Eileen O'Finlan


One hundred years ago women won the right to vote in the United States. It’s hard to believe we couldn’t vote until 1920, but that’s the fact. It was a long, hard fought battle, one for which American women owe gratitude to the suffragettes who made it happen.

For several years an idea has been simmering in my brain for a novel set during the struggle for American women’s voting rights. As with many of the yet-to-be-written multitude of novels floating around in my head, scenes from this one play themselves out in my mind every so often. I don’t think this will be the next novel I write (after Erin’s Children, my novel in progress, and sequel to Kelegeen), but certainly it is in the top three currently germinating in my imagination.

As with all good historical fiction, there will be lots of research before and during the writing. Though I may not start the actual writing for a while, when a research opportunity pops up I’m certainly not going to ignore it.

This afternoon I will be attending an event at the Worcester Historical Museum entitled “Suffragist Tea with History At Play”. The play, “How Long Must We Wait?” is a “multi-modal performance art piece detailing the struggle for women’s right to vote and equality” according to the Worcester Historical Museum’s website.

Despite being way ahead of my schedule regarding research for my future novel, I’m not about to pass it up. Something like this might not be available when I’m “officially” ready to start my research. Notes can be kept, memories held, videos replayed (History At Play’s website appears to have videos of many past performances). As an author of historical fiction, research is a high priority. When an opportunity comes my way, I’ll grab it while I can. No need to wait!



Thursday, March 5, 2020

March Musings by Rosemary Morris



To learn more about Rosemary's work please click on the cover above.


March

“March brings breezes sharp and shrill,
Shakes the dancing daffodil.”

3rd and 4th lines of a nursery rhyme. Anonymous.

Hertfordshire. S.East England. 2019



2nd February.
This the day on which it is thought Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Day
Shrove Tuesday is on the first Tuesday before Lent. During the two previous days, known as shrove tide, people confessed their sins. On this day pancakes were made with eggs, which symbolise, creation, flour, the staff of life salt considered wholesome and milk for purity. This day was one of revelry and pancakes are still served in many homes.
Ash Wednesday the Beginning of lent
Ash Wednesday lasts for forty days which represent the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness. At church the priest or minister might use ashes from palms burnt in the previous year after Palm Sunday to mark Christians’ foreheads with the sign of the Cross. This is a sign of mourning and repentance. It also represents the cross Jesus sacrificed his life on. As a child during Lent, I was encouraged to renounce sweets, which made chocolate Easter eggs very welcome.
14th February - St Valentine’s Day
There are several saints called Valentine but the martyrdom of two falls on this day. In times past it was believed birds mate on this day and sweethearts were chosen. The custom of sending anonymous cards developed from that belief.




Classic Historical Fiction by Rosemary Morris

Early 18th Century novels: Tangled Love, Far Beyond Rubies, The Captain and The Countess

Regency Novels False Pretences. Heroines Born on Different Days of the Week Books One to Six, Sunday’s Child, Monday’s Child, Tuesday’s Child, Wednesday’s Child, Thursday’s Child, and Friday’s Child. (The novels in the series are not dependent on each other, although events in previous novels are sometimes referred to and characters reappear.) Saturday’s Child will be published in July 2020.

Mediaeval Novel Yvonne Lady of Cassio. The Lovages of Cassio Book

www.rosemarymorris.co.uk

https;//bwlpublishing.net/authors/rosemary-morris-rosemary-historical-uk/

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

The Carrot by Katherine Pym






~*~*~*~*~


Colorful Carrots
The other day I watched a historical documentary on the Stuarts (are you surprised?) when a lady marched through a market and stopped at boxes of carrots. She said the carrot started out purple, but if you match it with another color, the new crop is yellow. You match it with another color, and that crop of carrots is orange. This was done in honor of William of Orange. I thought, “What?” But intrigued, I went in search of the carrot. 

Purple Carrot
The Greeks and Romans cooked with white carrots. Asia Minor peoples threw purple and yellow carrots in their pots. They were used in medicines, and carrot seeds have been found in these areas from as long ago as 5000 years.

They think carrots originated in the Himalayas and Hindu Kush and were transported across the mountains via the Silk Road. A popular item, merchants stored them on ships and transported the root all over the world.

They were once very bitter but with our technology, we’ve made them into a fat and tasty vegetable. I’d wager they don’t taste anything like what the original peoples ate. I even heard those beautiful, succulent carrots you buy in bags, have been whittled down from unseemly, unsaleable roots. I can imagine all the carrot debris everywhere. What do the manufacturers do with all that waste? Probably something we don’t want to know. On a positive note, maybe they crush it into carrot juice.

Okay, now I’ll confuse you.
Asiatic carrots are often purple/black, although some are yellow.
Western carrots are generally orange, red or white, some of which may have developed from mutations, which cooks seem to prefer because the darker pigments do not leech into the broth.

White & Red Carrots
I don’t understand how the carrot became so popular when the original roots were long and thin, tough as nails to eat, and bitter as the day is long. It is not something I would take in hand and say, “I’ll make this better.” But man as a species is quite amazing. There’s a lot out there that may or may not have been a good idea to cultivate and expand, but we have them and we eat them, anyway.

~*~*~*~
Many thanks to the carrot museum, http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html
and wikicommons, public domain.


Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Collectibles & Inspiration by Diane Bator



I just had to share my new logo before I launch into my blog post today.
Like many other authors, my road to being published has not been an easy one, but I've always stayed true to what I love to write and to myself. I'm so grateful for everyone at BWL Publishing, especially Judith Pittman who has received so many of my crazy emails, and Michelle Lee who creates amazing covers!
I printed off two copies of this logo to hang on my wall. I figure it will take several days to actually sink in and a few pinches to my arms to make it real!
Now on with the blog....

I recently realized I collect news stories the way some people collect coins, dolls, or books. They help motivate me and get my creative juices flowing. How can you not be inspired as a mystery writer to read, "Man in ICU after pharmacy mistakenly gives him opioid"?

Or "She said her husband drowned during vacation. Police say she killed him."

Or "Twin acquitted of murder in Hawaii crash that killed sister."

Or "Woman thought her house was haunted until she found her ex-husband living in the attic."

In fact, a news story about a woman's disappearance helped fuel The Bookstore Lady where the main character is on the run from the mobsters she was working for. While Katie wasn't so good at hiding, she managed to eek out a whole new life.

Sometimes, I get caught up in the idea of an outline or a story line that I get stuck and not sure how to move on with a novel. So I surf the web and stumble across one of these headlines. There are usually some great nuggets to help me move forward. For example the one about the woman and her ex-husband is already entwined in a story line for an upcoming Glitter Bay mystery.

Aside from collecting news stories, I also collect lines. One of my favorite was one I used in my novella Murder on Manitou. "I was a drinker with a writing problem." I make it a habit to write down lines I hear whether on television, in a coffee shop, or at work. In fact, I have dozens of napkins, slips of paper, and post-it notes filled with one-liners. Eventually, most of them find their way into my novels and I forget where I heard them or even as prompts for writing meetings.

Here are a few examples of lines I've heard, or read, that caught my attention:

"I like to keep my mind active by plotting revenge." (Who? Me?)

"It's kind of like dating your ex-husband." (Sort of goes with the first one...)

"I can't go to Hell. Satan has a restraining order against me." (Again. No comment.)

"Creativity is one drug I can't live without." (Okay, this is just me on a daily basis.)

"When I found out I had cancer, I turned vegan." (Yup, this one is making it into a book!)

Even images on the Internet or television don't go unnoticed. Things like a dog pulling a little girl away from a lake or cats hiding items beneath the couch. In any good mystery, evidence is not always in plain sight. What if the cat or dog hid it? What if the cat knocked a fishbowl into a crime scene? Any number of scenarios can arise from a single sentence, a news story or even a silly cat video?

Writers, what sort of things trigger ideas for you? Are you flattered when people "borrow" your best lines or a bit put out?

Have a wonderful week!

Diane Bator



Monday, March 2, 2020

I live in a make-believe world





 Okay, not literally, but vicariously through my characters.  I decide where they live, name their towns, or sometimes I let them live in a real city/town.  I prefer small towns, maybe because I’ve always wanted to live in one. I especially like towns with Victorian houses and apparently so do my characters, because I use them a lot.  I often say I must have lived during the Victorian area, probably as a mean old nanny. I’m sure I wasn’t the lady of the house, and by house, I mean mansion. Queen Anne Victorian homes are my favorite. I love the round turrets, all the gingerbread, and wrap around porches. It was always my dream to buy one and restore it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be and I’m past the point of wanting one now. But I digress. 
Back to my make-believe world. I’d like to say I choose my characters, but truthfully, they choose me.  Sometimes I even get to name them, but if they don’t like the name, well believe me, they misbehave until I change it. And, yes, that’s happened several times. Just because I like a name doesn’t mean they do. The last time it happened it wasn’t even a main character. She was only in the story for a short time, but boy was she stubborn. She refused to talk to me and anything I wrote was garbage, better known as dreck in the writing world.
As I’ve said previously, I write many different of genres, from Women’s Fiction to Romance to Mystery and even Paranormal. Most of my books are a combination of romance and another genre. As a reader, I’ve always favored mystery and romance, so it only made sense to combine them.  Mine would be classified as cozy mysteries. The gory stuff takes place off stage. 
 I also love ghost stories – not evil mean ghosts though. One such story is Shadows in the Attic and another Time to Love Again. I’ve always been fascinated by ESP, hence my story Entangled Minds – previously published as Connection of the Minds.
My character’s ages range from their mid twenties to middle age and into their seventies. Yes, seniors need love, too. Geriatric Rebels is a favorite.  It’s fun working with different characters, and I especially like when they add a bit of humor. I really form an attachment to them. Once a character chooses me, I make a character worksheet. I need to know everything about them, not just what they look like.
I love creating my characters, picking their careers, anything from housewife, authors, teachers, floral designers and interior designers. Sometimes their careers play a part in the story, sometimes not. The character in my work in progress (WIP in the writer’s world) is a former teacher. It’s not a big part of the story, but it’s something I needed to know.  It’s also fun describing them, their hair and eye color, height, even their weight.
Some of my characters are based a little on me or people I know/knew. I might take a little from this friend or family member and a little from another. Sometimes I get their descriptions from people I see someplace, like the mall, a restaurant or even a doctor’s office. Of course, I embellish from the characters I know. But I might use a habit someone has or a quirk. I even take story ideas from every day life and embellish on them.
I get my story ideas from various places. Sometimes a picture in a magazine sparks an idea, or an overheard conversation. The idea for Deadbeat Dads came from a conversation my husband overheard in a bank. It didn't take long to discover it happens frequently. Men leave their families and forget about them. No child support, no visitation. It's like the family never existed.
It’s fun living in a make-believe world. I think I’ll stay here. Now if Aunt Beatrice Lulu would start talking to me again. Apparently, I've made her mad about something. 

Here's an blurb from another favorite - okay, they're all my favorites. What can I say?

Shadows in the Attic 

Imagine finding a hidden room, complete with furniture, a trunk, diary and shadows. Author, Anna Hughes couldn't wait to finish her attic room. Did the shadows hold the secret to why the room was sealed?

J. Nordstrom Review
I loved the characters, the world, the mystery. I was just as drawn to the shadows as Anna was. I wondered what happened to them, and why they became shadows to begin with.

Available from https://books2read.com/u/mKJYPv

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