Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Inspiration -- Jane-style


Jane's pictureJane Isenberg was already a successful writer when I met her ... oh, several years ago, at my very first Sisters in Crime meeting. Her first book, a memoir titled Going by the Book, won the James N. Britton award. Her Bel Barrett Mystery Series was well-known and well-loved. She has degrees from Vassar College, Southern Connecticut State College and New York University. On top of that, she taught English for forty years. Was I intimidated? You bet. Should I have been? Not at all. Jane has a warm humor and a sincere kindness that she lavishes on those who know her. She's retired from teaching now and lives in Issaquah, Washington with her husband Phil Thompkins. She's still writing, and still winning awards, though. The Bones and The Book is her latest, and won the prestigious Willa Award in 2013.


Inspiration for Jane seems to me to have come from rising up and meeting challenges. Here's her story.

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The Bones and the Book, a historical mystery set in Seattle's small Jewish community during the Gold Rush
and in 1965, was inspired by an idea I got 3,000 miles east of Seattle and a century and a century and a half later. In the mid-nineteen nineties I visited the Tenement Museum on Manhattan's Lower Eastside. The tour of the place where so many of our immigrant ancestors lived was fascinating and moving, but it wasn't until I hit the gift ship that inspiration struck. That's where I spotted a note card imprinted with a facsimile of the business card of a fortune teller named Dora Meltzer who had once lived in that very building. I assumed she was an Orthodox Jewish immigrant, and she intrigued me because fortune telling is prohibited by the rabbis. I figured she must have been very gutsy to disobey rabbinical strictures, and I've always had a soft spot for women who defy the rules men make for us. Standing there n line at the cash register with my credit card and that little note card in my hand, I figured this Dora Meltzer had a story and I wanted to know what it was. As I paid, it occurred to me that the only way I'd ever know her story was to make it up. That's when I decided that someday I'd write a book featuring an Orthodox immigrant girl who comes to New York's Lower Eastside at the turn of the Nineteenth Century and tells fortunes. Someday didn't come until I'd finished writing the last of my Bel Barrett Mystery Series in 2005.

By then, I'd moved from the east coast to Issaquah, Washington where, to my astonishment, for the first time in my life, I often found myself the only Jew in the room! Oy vey! This proved daunting, because my new
Jane, getting acquainted with the
neighbors
neighbors were curious about Jews and asked me many questions. If I found being Jewish here challenging in 2005, what had it been like for those 
Jews who came a hundred and fifty years ago? I began to explore Washington State history and the history of Jews in Washington. I focused on Seattle where Jewish hisotry is exciting because of all the conflict within the small Jewish community itself. As a conflict-averse Jew, I was upset to learn that Seattle's Jews didn't always play nicely together, but as a mystery writer I was delighted! Without conflict people don't get murdered. Free to begin my mystery about the immigrant Jewish fortune teller, I decided to move her to Seattle where the action was. Besides, the story of Jews on the Lower Eastside has been told many times, while the story of Seattle's Jews had yet to be fictionalized. I'd be researching and writing what I didn't
Jane, hanging with the local
wildlife
know, and that was a little scary, but also intriguing. My dicey decision was validated in 2013 when The Bones and the Book won a Will Award for Original Softcover Fiction from Women Writing in The West!

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If you want to find out more about Jane Isenberg and her books, here's a Link To Her Website and Jane's Blog - Notes to My Muses (you'll love this, I promise!)

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Ideas from the Ooze, and Adjacent Locations

Author Kaye George is a powerhouse. I've known her for almost the entire span of my writing career and am continually amazed at her ability to not only produce a quantity of excellent work, but a broad spectrum as well. Her humorous Imogene Duckworthy mystery series is set in down-and-out Saltlick, Texas and will make you laugh outloud, her Cressa Carraway musical mystery series speaks to one of her great loves -- music. The People of the Wind series is about Neanderthals. The Fat Cat cozy mystery series will be coming out in 2014. 
A Patchwork of Stories is her collection of short stories, but you'll find her in several anthologies and magazines. Not only that, she reviews for "Suspense Magazine," writes for newsletter and blogs, gives workshops on short story writing and promotion. And she has time for her friends and family. When I figure out how she does it, I'm going to bottle it and make a million. 

So, here she is. Take notes -- and be sure to ask some questions!

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Where do ideas come from?

Sometimes I know where my ideas came from and sometimes I don’t.

Well, they all come from inside my head, I know that.

I figure that everything a writer hears, sees, smells, touches, and tastes goes into what I call the primordial ooze in our brains and we’re not entirely responsible for what comes out.

I do know that my Imogene Duckworthy series arose from frustration. I was tired of getting rejection after rejection--hundreds of them--and decided to write something over the top to amuse myself.

Apparently I amused other people, too, because my readers are asked for a 4th book. I hope it gets done sometime this year or next! Since I was going for humor, I couldn’t think of a better place to set it than the one we had just moved from, a tiny town outside Wichita Falls. That city is named for a man-made water fall, since the original one (which was more of a steep rapids) washed away in a storm a long time ago.

Pretty funny to me!



My Neanderthal series, People of the Wind, arose from my life-long fascination with
Neanderthals and the fact that so many discoveries are being made about them recently. I get so excited about all this, I just had to write about it. I even had a DNA test and found that I’m 2.9 percent Neanderthal. And I have the t-shirt to prove it.

That was the hardest project I ever did, though. It involved tons of research (which, I admit, I loved) I had to decide whether they really could speak (that’s up for grabs), how their society was organized (also debated), whether the buried their dead (some think so, other don’t), and most importantly what kind of style could I use to convey that kind of world.

Tough, but fun! Can’t wait to get back to that world, 30,000 years ago, for a sequel.

This brings me to my Cressa Carraway Musical Mystery series. That was the source of much of the frustration mentioned above. I heard, over and over, to write what you know. I’m a musician so, in the first serious project I tackled, I wrote an amateur sleuth who is a musician.

Should be a cinch, right?

After those hundred of rejections, I realized this might not be so easy. Well, in the midst of them I figured that out. With the help of writing groups, writing courses, and an awesome publisher, Barking Rain Press, Eine Kleine Murder came into being. I’m so pleased it was so well received.

Still writing what I know, I used my mom’s cabin and the actual Illinois lake resort for the setting. I grew up swimming there as a child and love the place. Where all those weird characters came from is anybody’s guess, but no one like them lives there--good thing. They’re a bunch of weirdos.


As for my short stories, telling how they came into being would take a long, long time. From anywhere and everywhere. One thing I’ll never do is run out of ideas. I have folders full of them--so many ideas that I’ll never live long enough to write all of them. That good old primordial ooze.

Kaye at the site of some inspiration!
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Visit Kaye at her blog Kaye George, There's links to her books. Here's another link to Kaye's Books -- this one to Amazon, where you'll find a complete list. 



Friday, December 20, 2013

Owls and Other Muses



Lisa Stowe, my guest today, may not be a familiar name to you, but she has a long writing and editing history. I’ve known her since Death By A Dark Horse was named something else, and was in its initial, very rough, form.

At the time, she headed up a writers’ group at our local library. What impressed me was her quiet attention to each budding writer and her ability to discern just what each piece of work needed – then deliver the information in a manner that both challenged and encouraged the author rather than dispirit.

Knowing I’d found the help I needed, I handed over my rough draft of DBADH. When she was done reading it, her suggestion was to start the story a little farther into my manuscript. I swallowed hard, and pondered her advice for three days because, as all writers know, cutting out your darlings is painful. At last, because I trusted her, the first seventy-five pages were severed, and … I knew I’d done the right thing. Since then, she has taught me much and encouraged my growth as a writer, for which I am very grateful.

I think you’ll understand, when you read her contribution to my blog, why I feel she is well qualified to coax a story from a writer. She has a gentle warmth and humor that make her wise words difficult to forget.

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Parliament of owlsSomeone once told me that my guardian spirit was an owl. She then said she’d never seen so many around one person, that they perched along my roof line and in the trees. I thought that was a cool image, although I didn’t know if I should be thrilled or terrified. Another friend researched owls as guardian spirits and told me they were the keepers of stories.

So where do stories come from? Those guardian spirits that hold them safe.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? I enjoy thinking I’m surrounded by owls. Kind of like being in Hogwarts. Dropping stories down as I need them, rather like owl pellets in word form.

The reality is something different though. Rather than coming from an owl, I find myself listening in on conversations. I recently heard a woman talking about remodeling. It was, to be honest, a boring story. I started thinking it would be way more fun if this happened, and then if that started up, and then this person could jump in, and then what if…

And instantly I’ve daydreamed my way into something entertaining, while smiling and nodding to a story about plumbing problems.


Sometimes it’s a question that intrigues me. The Memory Keeper started because my father thought a bordello madam was his biological mother. He died before finding out and I knew the question would haunt me forever if I couldn’t answer it. So I did, in a story. What if she was his mother? What if a young woman looked for her grandfather’s history, looked for that madam, and old buried secrets came out in the open? What would those secrets be, and who would care?

For me, when I ask that question, the answer I receive isn’t a complete book, or even a full story. Usually I see the very last scene. I always know what the last line of the story is, and the writing process is figuring out how to get to that point. The questions get me wandering down a foggy path toward a clear ending.

‘What if…’ is a magical question. I ask it when eavesdropping on life.

And of course, by waiting for an owl to poop an idea down on my head.


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To read more about Lisa and gain writing insight, visit her blog The Story River. If you need an editor, she is Outlaw Creek Editing. To spend some quality time with beautifully written, absorbing mysteries pick up The Memory Keeper and then Sparrow’s Silence at any retailer. They’re in print and e-book format. Here’s some links to make it easy for you:

Smashwords: All E-Books

All other retailers -- search Lisa Stowe or the book title.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Inspiration


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Diane Vallere
I'd like to introduce all of you to a friend of mine, Diane Vallere. We've known each other for years, belong to the same organizations, served on committees together, but ... we've never met. Gotta love the internet! I'd know her in an instant if I saw her on the street, and I know enough about her to tell all of you that she is one of the most creative people I've ever met. 

Diane is a prolific author of  short stories (in 3 anthologies), full length novels that include two separate series; The Style and Error Series and the Mad for Mod Series -- so far a total of 7 titles -- and is working on a Fabric Shop Mystery Series for publisher Berkley Prime Crime. 

Phew! 

She also worked for years as a buyer for one of THE most famous luxury goods retailers, traveling the world to runway shows, shoe markets and lingerie fairs. Is she qualified to write what she writes? Darned toot'n! She's got the fashion industry nailed, and her books make you feel like you're part of it (I know this because I've read them all). Diane is also supremely qualified to hold forth on the genesis of ideas for entertaining stories, but I'll bet you've figured that out by now. So, without further ado, here's Diane!

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Diane's newest!


Most people who know me know how much I love Project Runway. And the one thing that resonates with me each week is how the designers are given their inspiration and immediately told to sketch their ideas. Thirty minutes, and then off to Mood Fabrics. The designer who can channel their inspiration and merge it with their brand quickly has a much easier time when it comes to selecting material and assembling a dress.


In a way, I approach my books like a designer. Each series is a collection; the combination of my books make up my brand. And the inspiration can come from anywhere: a line at the bank, a day at the beach, an appointment with a personal shopper, an old movie. The best way for me to keep rejuvenating the pool of ideas in my head is to keep exposing myself to new things.

This is the single most important part of my full-time writing life.While juggling writing with a full time job, I didn’t have the luxury of staring at a blank page. I had to be able to turn on my writing when I had a pocket of time. That was a great skill to develop. But that skill was born out of a different skill: the ability to find ideas in everyday life. In order to turn on the writer during my 1 hour lunch break, I needed to have a cache of ideas ready to be mined.


I keep a composition book for every project that I’m working on, and any time something strikes me that might work somewhere in a book, I jot it down in the notebook. (I am a compulsive composition book buyer for this reason). I buy them in coordinating sets of three to represent three books in a series. If I get an idea for a future book, I can tear out the page and clip it to the cover for the next book in that series.

Example: Because I knew I wanted to use a counterfeiting crime as part of the plot of THAT TOUCH OF INK, I was especially tuned into anything involving money. I watched how people acted at the bank. I paid attention to people who used cash instead of credit. When something struck me, I’d write it in the designated composition book. When I needed to shake loose an idea, I’d flip through the composition book until something felt fresh. That doesn’t mean I only had ideas about counterfeiting crimes during that time. In fact, I was so in tune with those characters that I got the idea for the third book in the series too. Since my writing schedule didn’t allow for me to write it right away, I started a new notebook with those ideas. (I started the third book in November and found a lot of ideas that just needed to be fleshed out!)


Getting ideas is easy—as long as I keep myself exposed to what is going on outside of my computer!

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Want to find out more about Diane's books? Go to her blog DIANE VALLERE (Go on, click on her name), and read excerpts from her books. All her books are available in print and e-book formats. She's got links to Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Nobel, Indiebound -- you name it. You'll find her everywhere. I can guarantee a delightful read!

Friday, December 6, 2013

The Great Idea Fairy

Yes, that’s exactly where story ideas come from.

Wow! You mean they're real!?!



Sometime, in the middle of the night, the Great Idea Fairy squeezes her voluptuous self through my partially opened bedroom window (I need fresh air when I sleep), and whacks me over the head with her hefty magic storybook.
 I wish.

Paul's chance to be a hero. Did he blow it?
For me, it can be difficult to find the source of my next tale, and it often isn’t where I expect it to be. If I’m lucky, the story I’ve just written suggests the next. That happened with Levels of Deception. I was deep into editing Death By A Dark Horse and the characters were flexing their muscles, begging to go off on more adventures. Paul wanted to go to Montana and dig up dinosaur bones and Thea, fresh from victory, was wanting to be a hero again. Okay, to be honest, Paul wanted a shot at hero, too.

Did I want to make them happy? Darned right I did. They were fun and adventurous. And what better way to make them happy than give them both what they wanted – which had to put them in direct conflict with each other.

That made me happy. Nothing like two people struggling to “make it work” and ready to sacrifice it all for that goal. Throw in a murder and danger from an unknown source, to up the stakes, and … Wow! My hands are already sweating!


A real-life baddie inspired this story.
Shooting to Kill, the most recent in the series, had it’s source in an article I read about a real person. The article gave me the creeps, and I wondered how someone who was more than a bubble and a half off plumb could con so many smart people and not be found out until something violent happened. What would it take to coexist with someone like this? I knew the ends would they go to in order to accomplish their goal, but what would happen if someone stepped into their path?

Obviously, here was a job for Thea and Paul.  

Lacking a personal Great Idea Fairy, I fall back on gaming out the old “what if” theme. How do I choose which of the many ideas to use? There are plus points if my protagonists can be in conflict with each other as well as other characters. I like to stir things up. Other than that, well, if I can imagine some humor and unusual twists I’ve likely got myself a story to tell.

Because every writer has his or her own twist on story creation, I’ve enlisted a number of my writer-friends to reveal the spark that drives their creativity. Over the coming weeks a variety of authors whose styles and processes differ from mine will stop by. It'll be fun to get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes workings of some very talented folks. I'm looking forward to it!


Sigh. Please, don't tell me you believe her drivel about who comes up with the stories. And I'm NOT voluptuous.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Shooting To Kill is Launched!

It's not a rumor, it's true -- Shooting to Kill is available right this very minute on Amazon Kindle! And yes, you're right, it's been released much much sooner than I anticipated! Enjoy the read -- and tell your friends!
Thanks so much for being Thea fans!


Here's the link: LINK TO KINDLE

And here's the back cover blurb;

Shooting To Kill
The fifth Thea Campbell Mystery


When Thea Campbell’s veterinarian collapses after accidentally injecting himself with a horse vaccine, Thea rushes to his aid. Despite her best efforts, the much-loved vet dies. In the wake of this tragic fluke, Thea reconsiders her own cautious approach to relationships.

Life, Thea decides, might be shorter than you expect, and procrastination a death-bed regret.

She immediately accepts her best friend’s last-minute wedding invitation and embraces the planning of her own marriage to fiancé Paul Hudson.

However, on return from her friend’s wedding, Thea has little opportunity to pursue her new philosophy. Her veterinarian’s death has been ruled a murder, his young assistant arrested and accused of deliberately substituting euthanasia solution for the West Nile vaccine.

The only person to believe in her innocence is Thea’s sister Juliet. She intends to investigate and begs Thea for help. But Thea believes the case is closed and the police have arrest the right person. Besides, she intends to concentrate on planning her wedding.

  
However, the chilling fact is Thea was right about life being shorter than expected. Procrastination is not on the killer’s agenda.



Saturday, June 29, 2013

The Traveling Interview


Author Kate Wyland emailed me the other day and suggested I might enjoy being part of a traveling interview. For those of you stopping by for the first time, I write a mystery series set in Snohomish, Washington and laced with humor and romance. Because I have a new Thea Campbell Mystery -- Shooting To Kill -- coming out soon, and because I trust Kate to be tasteful and ... well ... fun, I agreed .... And then I looked at the questions.  Much to my delight, they are good! And because the same questions pass from author to author any reader who follows the trail will find out about the various differences and amazing similarities between us. Happy reading, everyone!

What are you working on right now?

Currently, I’m outlining the plot for the sixth Thea Campbell mystery.

How does it differ from other works in its genre?

Although my mysteries have serious themes and deal with tragedy, I mix in a good deal of humor. Because I’m one of those people who often see the irony and humor in life’s events and relationships, I include those elements in each story. After all, even the most noble of individuals are capable of sincere eye-rolling moments! Plus – and this is truly important – there are always horses in my books, as well as (at least) one riding lesson that should satisfy the reader who is also a rider, and should give the non-rider a vicarious feel for what it is like to strive to communicate with an equine partner.

What experiences have influenced you?

What hasn’t influenced me? The sum of life’s experiences is on every page and in every character. That said, I really don’t think I would have gotten to the point where I was determined to write my first book if not for my son and his particular challenges when he was young. No, it wasn’t him saying “sit down and write,” but rather, “stop what you’re doing and be here for me.” It was the “being here,” the many empty hours of waiting to be needed, that gave me the impetus to make something positive of that time.
 
Why do you write what you do?

Conflict is fascinating. It exposes the inner workings of each individual, for good or bad, for tears or laughter. Sure, all books contain conflict, and it’s pretty clear that humans enjoy the vicarious experience. We risk little, but can gain in wisdom.  The habit of mysteries to resolve the conflict and put the world to rights is, for me, extremely satisfying. I like to think of it as the triumph of Justice, which I feel is a pretty basic human need. Sometimes, we call it “Hope.”

How does your writing process work?

I am a Plotter and an Outliner. I didn’t start out that way, but the more I’ve written the more my process has developed. This is what I typically do: I start with a body. It doesn’t matter if I know who it is or why they died -- I’ll find out. Once I do, I work on the villain. I want to know this individual and what motivates them. I want to know all their shameful secrets and what they want in life. At that point I can intersect their crime with my protagonist and write the story from her point of view. After all, she is the one who will be responsible for bringing the villain to justice. Even though I know she will, I can’t make it easy for her. What would be the fun in that? The more crises and problems I can create for her, the better.

What is the hardest part about writing?

Being able to evaluate one’s own work. What is in my head isn’t always what appears on the page. This is why it’s so critical to find critique partners or editors who can articulate problems they find and point out when the page and the intent don’t mesh. It can be something as simple as having a couple of sentences out of order or a word that implies something other than what I intend. A good editor will be able to read, understand and communicate what is veering off from my intent. It isn’t always easy to hear, but there will be a ring of truth to it that can’t be ignored. It’s impossible for a writer do this for herself.

What would you like to try as a writer that you haven't yet?

There are a number of genres I’d like to try my hand at – techno-thrillers, romance, etc – but to do so requires the ability to write full time. To do that means I must be earning enough to quit the day job! I’m not there yet, but my hope is to be able to reach enough readers that it becomes possible.

Who are the authors you most admire?

There are many! And not all of them are well known. What they have in common is the mastery of the craft – the ability to turn loose the reins of their imagination, and at the same time retain mastery over the intricacies of the language in such a way that the reader is transported completely away from the here and now.

Who are new authors to watch out for?

Here are a few I love – and I’ve put a link to each author with their name. They are different genres and sub-genres, and I’m betting several of these will appeal! Check them out!

KateWyland -- mysteries with romance and horses.
Lisa Stowe -- traditional mysteries set in the mountains of Idaho.
Kaylan Doyle -- sci/fi fantasy with romance and adventure. 
Jeanne Matthews -- traditional mysteries with a globe trotting protagonist. 
Joyce Yarrow -- Chandler-esque mysteries with a PI who is also a poet. 
Lisa Love Harris -- mysteries with a dash of romance and an antique-loving Texan protagonist.
Kait Carson -- traditional mysteries set in Florida with an ex-cop protagonist.

What scares you?
Snakes.

Next up? Where do you go from here? Check out Lisa Stowe. She has a wonderful blog called The Story River where she reflects on the craft of writing and all the thought provoking people and situations she encounters. Plus, she's doing these questions, too!

Thanks for stopping by!