Wishing Time at Women of Mystery

Image of Aspen, Colorado's shindig via Jon Barnes of Ultimate Taxi.

I think of New Year's Eve celebrations as a giant birthday cake, or a giant reset button, take your pick. Either way, it's a splendid time to enjoy what you've done and build up your optimistic enthusiasm for the New Year. So, if you'd like, share something(s) you're delighted about accomplishing in 2010, and something you're working toward in 2011.

Oh, okay, I'll go first. I'm very proud of the progress made on our NYSinC anthology, which is a big, collaborative project that's nearing submission. I'm happy about the ideas I have cooking for super-interesting fiction/publishing projects, which I hope to share later when they're more fully-baked. I'm working towards completion in 2011 of one novel-length manuscript, submitting two (possibly three) short stories, and making another run at the novel I've been trying to write for years. I'm also hoping to continue my health-ward direction, because I need energy for all this stuff! You?

Allow us virtually to clink glasses and toast to your successes, past and future. May we become positively bored with congratulating each other!

Follow me on Twitter @clare2e (I honor double-coupon days)

Boredom Celebrated

I read a WSJ article about a recent London conference celebrating boredom, at which one presenter read aloud "every single one of 415 colors listed in a paint catalog: damson dream, dauphin, dayroom yellow, dead salmon…and on and on and on."

I find so appealing this focus upon painfully ordinary small things, as I suspect them to be levers to move larger ones. However, I also join the attendees in their simple desire occasionally to counteract the modern pace. I believe a certain amount of mental space, even idleness, is necessary for creativity, and that bigger concepts emerge from the empty, rattling frustrations of tedium.

"We're all overstimulated," said Ms. [Jo] Lee. "I think it's important to stop all that for a while and see what several hours of being bored really feels like."

Tying even more closely to our concerns here, link to James Ward's blog post-- he's the conference organizer-- on a classic wintertime BBC program "The Snowman" to follow his methodology for mulling over mundanities, in this case creating logical concerns involving murder and David Bowie.

Given that another of the more-bored conference attendees actually began woolgathering on "Swedish police procedurals," do you think that the fans/authors of crime stories and the deeply and self-aware bored are overlapping sets? : )

New Press Seeks YA Short Mysteries

I pass this along with the usual caveats--I know nothing about Buddhapuss Ink, but it looks quite nice, they don't charge a fee for the contest and there are prizes involved. If you've ever had a yen to write something short for the Young Adult mystery market, but haven't had any idea what you'd do with it once it was written, this may be exactly what you're looking for!

From their website:

Our Spring/Summer 2011 Young Adult Showcase titled Mystery Times Ten seeks new mystery short stories that are targeted for the YA audience.

• Theme: Mystery – Your choice be it murder, cozy, paranormal, romance, soft-boiled, hard-boiled, police procedural, suspense, thriller, or amateur detective.
• No gratuitous sex or violence. Please remember your audience is 13 and up.
• The competition is open to all writers in English except current or former employees of Buddhapuss Ink LLC or members of our judging Panels.

There's a lot more on the contest page, so if you think you might want to submit, check it out. And let us know what happens!

Two Sentence Tuesday...and a Winner!

OK, thanks to random.org, we have a winner of Bad Penny Blues and Trail of Blood. It's Malena! Malena, I don't have your email address, so drop me a line (laura.kramarsky (at) womenofmystery (dot) net) with your mailing address so I can send you the books!

And now, on to the two sentences. I've been reading the fabulous Sophie Littlefield's A Bad Day For Sorry. Stella is a great heroine. Here are a couple of sentences from the first page just to introduce you.

It didn't help Stella's mood any that menopause had kicked into high gear now that her fiftieth birthday had come and gone. If widowhood had given Stella license to explore her authentic self, menopause stood under the window yelling at the bitch to come out and rumble.

My writing has...umm...suffered this week. In other words, I've barely written a thing. I've written down some recipes for people, and over on the Macmillan Cozy mystery page, I wrote these sentences:

There is NOTHING better than peppermint bark in my book. I have to stay out of Williams-Sonoma in the Xmas season because theirs is so addictive. And then, as if that wasn't bad enough, the amazing Janet Rudolph shares a whole round-up of chocolate-peppermint recipes, including do-it-yourself bark!

So what about you? Are you giving yourself license to take a week or two off writing, or have you taken the opportunity to get something down on paper (virtual or otherwise)? And what about reading? Did you get any good books for presents? Are you reading something good? Give us your sentences, and we'll link to you!

• Leah J. Utas gives us a whole paragraph this week. And a tasty one, too.
  

MTM: Let It Snow . . .

Here along the eastern seaboard, we are snowed in from the mid-Atlantic States to New England. I am like a little kid. I love snow storms. I already have peeked at the playground behind my house and it doesn’t have much going on, yet. But soon it will be filled with kids sliding down the snow slide, (regular sliding pond covered with snow) and catapulting snowballs off the canvas seat swings.

Indoors there is lots of hot chocolate, a few hot toddies (but only AFTER the snow has been shoveled) and more snacks than we should be eating. And there are all those Christmas gifts to explore. I might even read the directions that came in the box—a first for me. Still, what is a snow storm for, if not fun and new experiences?

With the weather, I’m not sure if there will be other My Town Monday posts today but I am posting the MTM blog link here just in case.

And, for clarity sake, the above picture came from the internet, not from me.

Terrie

Reviews and Predictions

It's near the end of the year, which means there are a multitude of lists ~ whether it's a look back, or a gaze into the crystal ball for next year (image from Business Insider).

Publishing Perspectives recently posted "Radical Publishing Events of 2010 and Predictions for 2011."

The tech news site, Working on the Go, says that global e-reader sales should surpass 11 million units in 2011.

Jen Forbus shares her list of favorite reads of 2010 ~ which includes Hilary Davidson's The Damage Done.

Speaking of Hilary Davidson, Women of Mystery are about to have a visit with Hilary and a lucky commenter will win a copy of The Damage Done. Stay tuned!

If you were lucky enough to unwrap an iPad for the holidays, The Next Web recommends downloading these apps first.

Buzz Feed has compiled "The 75 Best Cute Animal Lists of 2010." The photos are worth the click over.

The Clutch Blog at MTV announced their collection of "The 18 Best 'Best-Of' Lists of 2010."

So, what books or e-books did you get for the holidays? I got two huge hardcovers: The Best American Noir of the Century, edited by James Ellroy and Otto Penzler (be sure to visit Library Journal ~ they have a Q&A with Mr. Penzler about noir), and The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume I. The New York Times reported last month that the memoir was flying off the shelves.

Sounds like the rumors and reports of the death of publishing have been greatly exaggerated!

Come follow me on Twitter @katcop13.

Happy Holidays!

Whether you celebrate Christmas, another set of holidays, or none at all, we at Women of Mystery wish you much enjoyment and peace both now and throughout the new year!

I wish I had an attribution for this picture (please let me know if you've got it, and click to enlarge). I do hope no one will be more offended by this than by those weird, lit-from-the-inside, hollow plastic people, but I think this manger scene is wonderful!

And talk about Adeste Fidelis! These faithful not only know how to come, but how to sit and stay!

Perfect Endings

My husband had just finished reading Empire by Stephen Saylor, a novel about Ancient Rome, and asked me to recommend a book to bridge the gap while he was waiting for our daughter to turn over The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. “Something different, not a mystery,” he said, looking over the bookcase, which I must admit, does contain quite a few mysteries.

“I have just the book,” I replied and pulled out a copy of Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen.

“What’s it about?” he asked.

“Trust me,” I replied. “It’s a great story and well-written. You’ll love it, especially the ending.”

After he read a few chapters he told me he was enjoying it very much. “Wait until you get to the ending,” I said. “It’s really good.”

Thinking about the ending of this novel, got me started thinking about endings in general. There’s been so much written lately about how important it is to have a strong, powerful beginning, especially in relationship to e-books, that I wondered where that left the rest of the story.

A great start gets you interested. A tale that’s well told keeps you going. And, a gang buster ending leaves you satisfied. That’s not to say that these elements are mutually exclusive. If the story lags, the writing so-so, or characters are boring, a reader may never make it to the end. But for me, there’s nothing like the feeling I get when it all comes together with one big wow.

So… two spoiler alerts if you haven’t read Water for Elephants or Time and Again.

In Water for Elephants, the protagonist, Jacob Jankowski, is a 93-year old man living in a nursing home and hating it. In his youth, during the Depression, Jacob was forced to leave veterinary school. He hopped a train and joined the circus where he eventually cared for a menagerie of animals, including Rosie, the elephant. He also fell in love with Marlena, the show’s star performer who was married to the sadistic August, the show’s animal trainer. Now, the circus is in town and Jacob is determined to see it again. Not only does he see it, but he also runs away from the nursing home and joins it. A very satisfying ending.

Another book that I believe has a great ending, is Time and Again by Jack Finney. The book takes place in the 1970’s. The protagonist here, Si Morley is part of a secret government experiment designed to send people back in time using only their mental abilities. Si achieves this, and begins to live a life in New York City circa 1882. There he deals with dangers from the past and the present as he falls in love with Julia, his Grammercy Park landlady’s niece. When he realizes that he can’t live without her, and that she would never fit into the present, he makes a decision that changes the course of the future and leaves him in the past with Julia. It’s one of my favorite books and it ends as well as it begins.

Spoiler alert over.

My husband did like Water for Elephants although he didn’t love the ending as much as I did. But as we know, tastes are different.

Any novels that you’re reading where the ending surprises, stuns, or sums things up just right? We’d love to know.

Follow me on Twitter @cathicopy and let’s be friends on Facebook

Book images from borders.com

Historical Killers: Review and Giveaway

Over the summer, the fine folks over at Serpent's Tail Press sent me a copy of Cathi Unsworth's Bad Penny Blues to read. "No hurry," they said, "the book isn't coming out until December." So I put it on the To Be Read pile at the "December" level and went about my business.

Last week I read the book. I was sorry I'd waited so long, as it's a nifty piece of fiction. I was doubly sorry when I checked the release date, which turns out to have been in August! Well, it happens that way sometimes.

Unsworth's book is set in 1960s London, when a serial killer nicknamed Jack the Stripper haunted the city's underbelly, raping and murdering prostitutes. Unsworth follows two storylines in the novel: one, the story of Stella, a young artist who is psychically connected to the murdered women in a way she cannot understand; the other that of Pete Bradley, the young cop who discovers the first murdered woman and, throughout the years, cannot let go of the case.

The mix of reality and fiction here is quite provocative. Unsworth creates a London filled with corruption, filled with crime, a noir version of the period. There are so many criminals, so many criminal acts, and so much general immorality (or at least amorality) one is tempted to think the good people have all abandoned ship.

I found Stella's story a trifle unnecessary, but then I've always been fond of the bare, unadorned police procedural. Perhaps it was that Unsworth wanted to put a more personal face on things, giving a positive note to the symphony. Or maybe the psychic connection was part of the mood she wanted to establish, because there's mood a-plenty in this novel. It's extremely atmospheric, with smoke and fog and music and art swirling off the pages.(You may get a bit lost in the jargon of the era, but have no fear, it doesn't really matter!)

Stella and Pete's stories never really cohere, and for all that Stella's is in the first person and Pete's in the third, I felt more connected to him. That said, the book is both entertaining and engrossing. Questions about Jack the Stripper -- how he managed to get away with killing so many women and why he chose the ones he did -- keep readers guessing, and every time one thing becomes clear, another twists out of reach.

I have one ARC of this book, plus I will mail out my copy of Lisa Black's Trail of Blood, about depression-era Ohio serial killer The Torso Killer, to one person who posts a comment telling me what era they could live in (past, present, future) if they could live any time at all! We all have to get through the holidays, so I'll pull the names from a hat on Tuesday the 28th.

Barkeep, make mine a Naughty Hockensmith!

Steve Hockensmith is the Edgar-winning author of the clever and funny Holmes on the Range mystery-western series, where I first read him, but he's also written a passel of darkly funny holiday tales, many of which were published by Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines. This season, he's gathered them together into a bargain-priced Kindle edition titled Naughty: Nine Tales of Christmas Crime. Hockensmith himself is a swell fellow, and because I'm theme-crazed (my true calling is planning cruise ship events with matching napkins and funfetti), I took him up on the chance to read and review a copy.

I enjoyed this collection, especially the more absurd stories, like the Dickensian pastiche "Humbug" and Mrs. Clause-cum-Christie in "Red Christmas." Other tales orbit the fictional River City, Indiana aroud the 1980s, and I liked the wisecracking style of those as well as the grace notes where the very different stories overlapped. There's a larcenous mall Santa that pre-dates Bad Santa, both carolers and churchgoers on the lam, gratuitous mentions of KISS, plus hijacked Cabbage Patch Kids.

Not everyone's like me, so you may not be the kind of person who likes to hunker down with a cocoa and cookies, in view of a twinkling tree and blazing fire, and read about assault with a sharpened candy cane. Of course, I hope-- for your sake-- that you are, but I'm sure you're invited equally warmly to download it to read on the beach in July, if you're perverse like that. Make sure the cabana boy brings you a fresh cushion and a sweating Naughty Hockensmith!

Follow me on twitter @clare2e I don't show up on breathalyzers!

Two Sentence Tuesday - Historical Killers

After my foray into historical killers with Lisa Black's Trail of Blood, I moved along to Cathi Unsworth's Bad Penny Blues, another novel with a real killer in the mix. In this case, it's 1960s London and Jack the Stripper. I'll be reviewing and giving away this book tomorrow! But for now, here are a couple teaser sentences:

Fed up with lingering in the hallway, we wove our way through the throng, past the lions and tigers and into the gallery, so we could take all the action in. Jenny gave me a wink and ducked into Dave's room with her tray, while I circulated in the front, offering fresh glasses and trying to work out who was who amongst the chattering mob.

Me, I wrote nothing at all of worth last week. I've been planning my niece's wedding--a destination wedding, no less--and the vast majority of my writing last week consisted of things like this, which comes from an email:

Thank you so much for all your help today. This is just to confirm that we talked about having a private party at Calmos on 22 June, 2011 for approximately 50 people from 11am on.

Did you write anything other than holiday cards last week? Did you read anything fun? Let us know and we'll link to you!

• David Cranmer gives a double dose of twos this week! Creepy, very creepy.
• Leah J. Utas also has some...vocal...sentences this week.

"Dancing with Myself" Interview at Sea Minor

Nigel Bird has so kindly invited contributors of Discount Noir to participate in his "Dancing With Myself" series of interviews, in which the writer poses his/her own questions. My interview appears today on Nigel's blog, Sea Minor. If you have a moment, please stop by.

Thanks to Nigel for this fabulous opportunity.

By the way, my story in Discount Noir, a crime fiction e-book, happens to be a Christmas story, entitled "Secret Identity." The e-book, edited by Patricia Abbott and Steve Weddle, is available through Untreed Reads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony's ereader bookstore, and Borders.

This anthology contains works by: Patricia Abbott, Sophie Littlefield, Kieran Shea, Chad Eagleton, Ed Gorman, Cormac Brown, Fleur Bradley, Alan Griffiths, Laura Benedict, Garnett Elliot, Eric Beetner, Jack Bates, Bill Crider, Loren Eaton, John DuMond, John McFetridge, Toni McGee Causey, Jeff Vande Zande, James Reasoner, Kyle Minor, Randy Rohn, Todd Mason, Byron Quertermous, Sandra Scoppettone, Stephen D. Rogers, Steve Weddle, Evan Lewis, Daniel B. O'Shea, Sandra Seamans, Albert Tucher, Donna Moore, John Weagly, Keith Rawson, Gerald So, Dave Zeltserman, Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen, Jay Stringer, Anne Frasier, Kathleen A. Ryan, Eric Peterson, Chris Grabenstein and J.T. Ellison.

Nigel Bird has written some awesome stories; if you haven't done so already, get yourself over to A Twist of Noir and Beat to a Pulp. Get a nice cuppa and get comfortable!

Come follow me on Twitter @katcop13.

Happy Monday! The Winners of the Donors Choose Gift Cards Are...

Unlike Clare, I don't have a cool jar to help me choose the winners, so I had to go for the plain old random.org choice.

1. Leigh Neely
   
2. Mrs M.
3. Deborah please contact me with an email address by Thursday!
   
4. Alta E Butler Elementary Art
   
5. Cindy Kerschner please contact me with an email address by Thursday!
6. Kate Gallison
   
7. Carol Kilgore
   
8. MJ
9. Leah J. Utas
   
10. zjr

Everyone aside from Deborah and Cindy, you will have the number of your gift card in your email today. Just log into Donors Choose and browse the projects by area, level of need, level of funding, type of project...whatever appeals to you. If your donation "completes" a project, you'll get letters from the kids in the class, which is really cool.

Winners of BEAT to a PULP: Round One!

All the entrants went into the container of destiny, and Santa's still a little nauseous from the randomization process. Honestly, I assumed a guy who could handle traveling the troposphere without containment would be a little less prone to the queasies.

Without further ado, our lucky commenters are:

Jodie MacArthur
Cathi Stoler
AC (Mr. Cizak)
Reb and
Keith Rawson!

CONGRATULATIONS ALL!

You should have already received an e-mail from me to get your shipping info. If not, check your spam folders (filters hate winning notifications, even real ones!) or e-mail me at clare2e[at]womenofmystery {DOT}net

Thanks again for participating, and even if you didn't win this time, we hope you'll consider stuffing the meaty BTAP:Round One in your own stocking!

Is Science Fiction Dying?

Back when the 20th century was still a toddler, science fiction established itself as the new genre on the block by looking forward to the 21st century, when our Chevies would be vying for airspace with JetBlue and our vacations would be to Mars and Venus rather than the Bahamas and Europe. As we now close out the first decade of the wild and fabulous 21st century, how is science fiction faring? Paul Di Fillippo reviewed the status of the genre in an article originally featured at The Barnes & Noble Review and then picked up by Salon.com. Click here to read "Is Science Fiction Dying?"

Image courtesy of Phenomenica.

Write What Sells?

“Under Gypsy Skies,” a painting by Sharon Spiak, cover art

Seems like we can measure the recession by the sales of romance novels. They're still hot. (I'll use the word "buoyant" because I just looked up its spelling, and why waste the research?)

Some of us can't spend an evening without Netflix. Others are downing romances like bonbons,
and why not, given the promise of covers like the one to the left? My skirts certainly never swung so gaily, nor was any peasant blouse of mine so perilously anchored by a bosom. And, well, the muscles.... It's my guess that romance fans are sticking to paper books for the opportunity to check out the cover art at will.

Eric, over at Pimp My Novel, has written eight posts (you'll need to scroll down a bit) on markets for genre fiction, and it was hardly a surprise to learn that escapist tales are holding strong-ish, with paranormal romance leaving the rest of fiction sales in the dust. Still, historical romances are doing well, and it seems you just can't beat a romance, because contemporary romances are also keeping pace.

As for the rest of the genres, "flat or a little down" isn't such bad news, right now, because it tends to be true across the board. Women hold the cards, as we know, since they are the market. Which probably explains why Women's fiction in general is doing a little better than flat - growing, in fact, and offering the opportunity for breakout stardom. Fantasy is on good footing, though trending toward ebook sales. (Is that really so scary?) Kid Lit and YA are strong, and may even put money in an author's pocket. Eric surmises this may be due to the fact that parents may skimp on themselves, but are not likely to skimp on their kids. And since kids like to look at pictures, paper versions may well remain on the shelves longer than the rest of the heap.

Sci Fi - typically a guy's genre - is scary, and its scientific precepts all too possible a reality for the not-so-distant future. Certainly nobody wants reality. So aside from ebook sales, Sci Fi is losing the galactic battle.

Literary fiction, which Eric considers a genre, is tanking as badly as you'd expect. No one, it seems, has ever really wanted to read literary novels, but without the temptations of today's electronic alternatives, past sales were never as discouraging as they are at present.

I know you're all waiting for the scoop on mysteries, thrillers, suspense, crime.... Take up thrillers, folks, because mysteries have been trending down significantly, due to the potential for dark endings. As Eric says, "Who wants to be terrified by a book when you can be terrified for free by your stock portfolio?" An interesting point he makes is that books in the genre typically appear first in costly hardback. He cheered me, however, by pointing out that Dan Brown has been wildly skewing the statistics on mysteries, so maybe things aren't as bad as they seem.

I've been writing the wrong stuff. The plain Jane mystery, with just a hint of literary. Noir. Post-apocalyptic. A couple of attempts at literary short stories. But then I've always seen the glass half-empty. And, sigh, these are what I read and love. Apparently I won't be retiring from the day job. Ever.

Follow me if you dare--my legs are long--@loiskarlin on Twitter.

- Lois

Giving Away BEAT to a PULP: Round One!

David Cranmer's free weekly e-zine BEAT to a PULP might only be the age of an up-and-comer, but the quality of the award-winning writing and writers guarantees it won't be a flash-in-the-pan.

Recently, David and BTAP editor-at-large Elaine Ash collected some of their finest, most twisted stories of pulpy goodness, combined them with new and never-seen works under the splendid cover art of James O'Barr, and created a new, old-fashioned way to enjoy stories by David Cranmer, Elaine Ash, Jake Hinkson, Charles Ardai, Sophie Littlefield, Scott D. Parker, Hilary Davidson, Matthew Quinn Martin, Garnett Elliott, Ed Gorman, Evan Lewis, Paul S. Powers, James Reasoner, Edward A. Grainger, Anonymous-9, Robert J. Randisi, Mike Sheeter, Stephen D. Rogers, Patricia Abbott, Kieran Shea, Nolan Knight, Chris F. Holm, Nik Morton, I.J. Parnham, Jedidiah Ayres, Andy Henion, Glenn Gray, Chap O'Keefe, Frank Bill, and an essay by Cullen Gallagher.

If that list already has you slavering, just scroll to the bottom of the post and see how to enter.*** I have seen many, many self and micro-published titles, and this one is a particularly wonderful-looking and feeling object that's exciting to wrap one's mitts around. As Bill Crider identifies in the foreword, the heart of pulp is "storytelling" with "strong narrative and colorful prose." This title cuts a wide swath through genre ranks to include "Action-adventure yarns, westerns, crime stories, horror tales, science-fiction stories, and more, a few of which are unclassifiable." Since David's been globe-trotting for most of his webzine's existence, I interviewed our virtual blogpal by e-mail about this terrific project.

How did you begin the 21st-century process of being an entirely remote editor of work that so proudly recalls juicy and visceral, pre-digital origins?

- In 2008, I was frustrated that I had three stories out for submission at three different e-zines when all these sites closed without explanation. I knew I wasn’t the only one with tales hanging in the great electronic abyss. I also knew I had the stamina to keep a website up and running. It seems most writers are looking for as many avenues as possible to get their work noticed and BTAP is one outlet providing that. At this stage, now that we’ve been around a bit, who wouldn’t want their work represented alongside writers such as Dave Zeltserman, Robert J. Randisi, and James Reasoner? People like these, who have sent me stories for the webzine, well, they’ve been damn kind and there’s no way I can ever repay them. They’re good people. Plain and simple.

The electronic pulp's great and only getting better. What prompted the expansion into print?

- Honestly, I just wanted to publish a book before the door closes forever on the printed page. Elaine, my partner on Round One, reminded me that the majority of anthologies don’t make a dime… or, that’s exactly how much they make. But that was fine with me. I wanted a quality book I could set on my shelf and say, I did that. Elaine has been a stalwart force in the first year and a half of BTAP’s webzine existence. She painstakingly edited every story I sent her, and quite often, at her own expense, conducted phone calls with the writers to whip the stories into mini-masterpieces. Plus, her editing skills and familiarity with the publishing realm made Round One go more smoothly. My wife, Denise, took the formatting reins, and put all the pieces together with the printer. The combined effort turned out the superb product (using CreateSpace) that we are now talking about.

Round One's final entry is an in-depth article by Cullan Gallagher about the long history and wide scope of pulp. Why?

- I’ve had a number of well-read people ask me, after I tell them a bit about my publishing gig and my own writing, what is pulp? It’s true that most of BTAP’s audience knows the meaning, but I’m counting on that moment when we hit The New York Times bestseller list, and then we’ll reach all those folks out there who aren’t in-the-know. Cullen’s piece is for them. I’m just happy when a copy is sold and we’re reaching another reader. I’ve also had some crime fiction writers ask me what westerns would I recommend and vice versa. Broadening one’s genre horizons couldn’t be more satisfying.

How many of your contributors have you met in person, or even by phone?

- I’ve only met Maine author Mathew P. Mayo in person (where we talked about our fond memories of The Six Million Dollar Man and Sasquatch!), but I frequently have contact with a few dozen writers who have been associated with BTAP. The internet is such a wonderful, yet odd, experience. I count these folks among my very good friends and yet have never met them.

What else is notable about being a distant, digital writing-wrangler?

- The greatest advantage is it puts my name out there, and as a result, I have been able to network with a wonderful group of established and emerging writers. When I read stories like Charles Ardai’s “A Free Man” or Ed Gorman’s “Killing Kate” (both in Round One), it raises the bar for me personally. I look at the current rough draft I’m working on and say, I can do better. The most difficult aspect is the time-consuming process as an editor to read dozens of submissions a month, and then edit, and finally proof each selected story prior to its debut, which, of course, takes time away from my own writing. The most head-shaking surprise (in a good way) has been publishing Paul S. Powers. Mr. Powers was a golden-era pulp writer from the 1930s to the early 1960s, who died in 1971, leaving behind several unpublished works. Thanks to his granddaughter, Laurie, I was able to publish one online and another in Round One. Good lord, that was an honor.

If people aren't lucky enough to win their copies here, where should they go?

-Amazon is probably the most familiar venue for most folks, though Round One is now available at other online retailers like Barnes & Noble. I had planned on releasing an eBook in early January, but I’ve put that idea on the back burner for the time being to focus on my own writing and to think about Round Two. We’re currently looking into making Round One available on Kindle. I’m always open to other formats, it’s just a matter of finding the right project and the time.

***To enter WoM's giveaway, just leave a comment, but make sure to include your e-mail (or make sure your profile links to one). If we can't contact you, you WON'T be entered. We'll confirm all entries within the thread itself. We close the contest at midnight, Saturday, December 18th, announce the winners on Sunday, and can get the goods shipped early Monday am, gift-wrapped with a note from you, and in time for Christmas should you need! (Okay, well we can beat the fat man and his livestock if you're in the U.S. or Canada. Otherwise, it's a slow boat!)

Follow me-- though I promise nothing-- @clare2e

An Apple Pie and an Editor Go into a Bar

Did you hear the one about the apple pie and the editor? You must have. It was all over the blogosphere this past November. I missed it originally because I was still searching for that elusive light at the end of the tunnel of my house renovation, but when I finally found that light a few weeks ago and turned on my computer to sit back for a while and surf in peace in my newly painted office, I was bombarded.

It seems that five years ago, food writer Monica Gaudio examined how good ol' American apple pie actually has its roots in medieval Europe in an article that was published on Gode Cookery, a website devoted to medieval food. Fast forward to this fall, when Ms. Gaudio's friend found that same article in Cooks Source, a regional New England cooking magazine whose editor, it turned out, had lifted the article from the website and used it without permission and without payment. After Ms. Gaudio wrote on her blog about her frustration in dealing with the Cooks Source editor, who seemed to believe that everything on the Internet was public domain, a firestorm erupted. The magazine has now folded, its website and Facebook page have been taken down, and its copyright-unsavvy editor has reportedly left publishing in favor of a career in retail.

My initial reaction was twofold. The editor in me wondered how a publishing professional of 30 years could not have understood copyright law. When the Internet first exploded onto the scene, I was an editor with Avery Publishing Group, a small, privately owned publisher of health books that today is a Penguin Putnam imprint. When the first few manuscripts crossed my desk with material pulled off the Web, I didn't know how to handle it. Was the material covered by the conventional copyright laws? Did it need permission? No one could definitively answer me. But that was 15 years ago! Today, I look back at those days and slap myself on the forehead. Of course it was covered. How could I have doubted it? And how could a publishing professional with 30 years' experience like the Cooks Source editor not know that today?

But "The Case of the Purloined Apple Pie" might just be the beginning. With more and more people turning to self-publishing, I'm afraid we're going to see lots more material used without permission or acknowledgment. We're already seeing it with blogs and websites. The Women of Mystery have had whole blog posts lifted and I had an entire page of my business website plagiarized.

Most of the people who lift material these days don't do it intentionally. They just don't know better. Even when I was at Avery, and later at Kensington Publishing, I had manuscripts handed in by experienced authors that contained huge chunks of "borrowed" material, not only from Internet sources but also from paper books, journals, and magazines. One author of mine went so far as to use most of another book word for word, just sprinkling in his own thoughts and updates here and there. Part of my function as an editor was to catch that. Self-publishers don't have editors, unless they hire a freelancer, of course, which many don't do because of the expense.

As a writer, my reaction was: What can writers do? We're not going to stop writing. We're not going to stop publishing. We're not going to stop expressing ourselves on blogs and websites, which make our fingers itch to start keyboarding away. Aside from diligently placing the copyright notice where everyone should be able to see it and asking our friends to keep their eyes open on our behalf, what else is there to do? What do you do?

For anyone who missed the brouhaha over the apple pie article, the How Publishing Really Works blog did an excellent job of presenting the whole story and also provides a ton of links to other articles and blog posts on the subject.

Setting the Stage

It's Two-Sentence Tuesday and it's time to have fun. I'm going to share two sentences from some of my favorite writers and tell you why I think they're great sentences. This is a difficult project for me because there are so many writers and books I absolutely love, especially those so good I've read them multiple times.

Let's start with Nora Roberts and J.D. Robb, who are the same writer. Nora can create characters that come alive better than almost anyone I know. By the time you finish one of her books, these people are just part of a story, they've become part of your life. I especially enjoy her trilogies because I get to follow three great characters through a continuing story line for three books. Now that's a good time!

Meet Malory Price, the heroine of Key of Light:

That wasn't part of the Malory Price Life Plan, which she had begun to outline at the age of eight. Twenty years later, that outline had become a detailed and organized checklist, complete with headings, subheadings, and cross-references.

With these two sentences we know the age, personality, and lifestyle of this young woman and we can identify with her easily.

Another writer whose words are magical is Patricia Briggs. Her heroines are gutsy, brave women who are certainly outside the box of typical romantic heroines.

This is Anna Latham from the lovely Alpha and Omega series by Briggs:

It was true that being a werewolf gave her greater strength and endurance, even in human form. But the twelve-hour shift she'd just finished at Scorci'swas enough to make even her bones ache.

Anna's supernatural but even she had a to make a living like the rest of us. I liked her immediately.

J. R. Rain is another charmer whose descriptions are cryptic but telling. This is from Dark Horse, the first book in the Jim Knighthorse series:

I noticed he wasn't wearing socks. Even cops in Huntington Beach are cool.

One comment creates a full picture of a character.

Alafair Burke's character Amy Davis is waiting to meet an Internet date at a trendy New York club and we learn immediately how she assesses her prospective partner:

She knew the date was a mistake precisely one second after she heard the voice behind her at the bar's entrance. "Are you Amy?"

All of these descriptions are precise and informative. Soon enough we'll get the physical characteristics of these people, but for now, we are already getting to know them.

Now I'll step out on the proverbial limb and put some of my own sentences on the line. I'm currently working on a book in which the main characters are a private investigator and an attorney. These two sentences are the first time we see them in a scene together:

Oh yeah, there is one other aspect of my partnership with Hunter that’s very interesting and a bit of a secret – he’s a shapeshifter, with the uncanny ability to change into any feline form he wishes. I know you’re chuckling – what’s funnier than a lawyer who can change his form and metabolic makeup at will?

I'm hoping with these two sentences I conveyed the humor, mystery, and endearing friendship that these two characters share. Well, there's my two-sentences worth. What have you been working on this week that you'd like to share?

TNB: The 2nd Annual Nobbie Awards

W.W. Norton's Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer, edited by Robert Swartwood, has been named one of the Best Books of 2010 by the editors of The Nervous Breakdown, in their Second Annual Nobbie Awards.

The Nervous Breakdown is an online culture magazine featuring the work of writers and artists from around the world.

If you are interested in submitting work to The Nervous Breakdown, check out their guidelines. The Nervous Breakdown is on Facebook and Twitter @TNBtweets.

In other Hint Fiction news:

I recently participated in a Twitter contest held by Vidster (a/k/a "Vidocq") on his cold case web site, Defrosting Cold Cases. (Vidocq was an 18th century crook-turned-cop, considered by historians and those in law enforcement to be the father of modern criminal investigation.) Along with several authors involved in law enforcement, we offered signed copies of our books during a giveaway. Seven winners were announced on December 9.

Hint Fiction is now available through the Google ebookstore.

Robert Swartwood will be the featured with Morgantown Poets at the Monongalia Arts Center (MAC) in Morgantown, West Virginia, this Thursday, December 16, at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Robert has a panel ("Hint Fiction: Stories That Prove Less is More") scheduled for Friday, February 4, 2011, at the AWP conference in Washington, D.C. Panelists also include Hint Fiction contributors Randall Brown, Roxane Gay, Michael Martone, and Daniel A. Olivas.

I will join Robert and several fellow Hint Fiction contributors at the KGB bar in New York City (85 E. 4th Street) on Sunday, February 27, 2011, from 7-9 p.m., for a discussion and reading. "An Evening With Hint Fiction" will be part of the KGB Bar Sunday Night Fiction series. I took this photo of Robert during a Monkeybicycle reading at the KGB bar this past October.

This month, several writers from the Absolute Write Water Cooler forums are participating in a blog chain of Hint Fiction.

Come follow me on Twitter @katcop13.

Joyce Carol Oates on Writing Characters

On this miserable Sunday afternoon, it was a pleasure running across this video of the wonderful Joyce Carol Oates talking about writing characters.

Learn to Defeat Your Self-Defeating Behavior

Writing teacher Margie Lawson will be teaching a new, expanded version of her popular "Defeat Self-Defeating Behavior" class in January. She has added five new topics to the class: the power of sleep, stretch breaks, blasting writer's block, optimizing productivity, and simple self-hypnosis.

Subtitled "Allow Writing Productivity and Creativity to Soar," the class helps students examine what might be preventing their success. Described as a one-month mental boot camp, the class explores how to:

• Address the three fears that paralyze writers
• Analyze yourself: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
• Challenge your internal dialogue
• Redirect resistance and manage your moods
• Duct-tape your inner critic
• Protect your priorities
• Practice conscious competence
• Apply Margie's "DUH Plan"

Margie Lawson is a counseling psychologist, college professor, and hypnotherapist. In her classes, she analyzes writing craft as well as the psyche of the writer. The classes she teaches include "Empowering Character Emotions" and "Deep Editing: The EDITS System, Rhetorical Devices, and More."

"Defeat Self-Defeating Behavior" will be given January 3-28, 2011. The fee is $30. For more information and to register, visit the Writer U website.

Geezers, Mollydookers and Pheasant Pluckers

Toni Kelner, over at the Short Mystery Fiction Society list, mentioned that one library refused to buy Damn Near Dead 2, because some of its patrons found the “g” word in the cover copy offensive: An Anthology of Geezer Noir. That’s too bad because this sounds like a great collection of stories. The book is edited by Bill Crider and features some fine writers including Toni Kelner, Patti Abbott, Denise Mina (amusing that geezer was more offensive than Denise’s title, but maybe no one bothered to look inside the book), S.J. Rozan, Marcia Muller, Declan Burke, and Bill Pronzini. I look forward to reading it.

Since I no longer pay full price for movie tickets, I qualify as a geezer (which can, though usually, doesn’t refer to a woman) and must say the word’s never bothered me. In fact, it’s edgier and somehow sexier than senior citizen, don’t you think?

After a bit of research, I learned that geezer derives from guiser, which means mummer or actor, and often connotes eccentricity. In this country it does have a negative connotation, but in the UK, where they specialize in eccentricity, geezer’s the equivalent of dude or chap. Nothing derogatory there, so placing the anthology in a British library shouldn’t be a problem. If the library’s within the sound of Bow bells, however, the publisher might want to slap a new cover on the book to accommodate Cockney rhyming slang. So I said to this old ice cream (ice cream freezer=geezer)…etc. That gem from The Slang Thesaurus, edited by Jonathon Green and published by Penguin. It’s a fabulous resource for writers looking to spice up their prose. You say that gawdelpus* is a pheasant plucker** and a mollydooker*** to boot?

As for geezer, it’s fine as far as I’m concerned, but here are some words that aren’t: sweetheart, honey, dear and all other patronizing terms of affection from total strangers. In fact, I’m planning to print up cards that I will leave in lieu of tip to any waiter, waitress or cabdriver who steps over the line: Next time, try ma’am.


* an annoying person
** contemptible individual
*** butterfingers

Give Away My Money!

Over the years this blog has been up, I've talked a great deal about Donors Choose. As a former teacher, I have a particular fondness for this organization, which allows teachers to post their classroom needs so that individuals can help fund them. Recently, I got a Groupon allowing me to buy $25 gift certificates for Donors Choose for only $10. So I bought 10 of them and I want to give them to you. If you win, you go ahead and pick the project you want to fund. It won't cost you a penny. There are art projects, reading projects, math projects, science projects...you name it, you can find it.

All I ask from you is that you post a memory of your school days -- good, bad, or indifferent -- in the comments. I'll pick 10 winners at random on Sunday the 19th and post them Monday the 20th. So post away, and happy giving!

(I will be sending the codes to you via email, so be sure there's some way for me to contact you!)

A Terrible Mind for Editing

The inimitable Chuck Wendig boldly describes why you're [okay, I'm] a sucky editor. Self-editing is a key skill for any writer hoping to suck less, and thanks to Chuck's filthy-angry list, I'm working on keeping my crap-can stapled to my dunce chair. However, if you're queasy at aggressively foul synonyms, or at the conjuration of phantasmal sex organs to be kicked into submission, Chuck's link probably isn't for you.

And in that case, enjoy this chihuahua in pajamas snuggling a teddy bear to piano music. (you can click the link if embedded video's not showing)

Two Sentence Tuesday

I've been reading Lisa Black's Trail of Blood this week. It's a fascinating suspense novel about a forensic investigator in Cleveland who is called in to look at a body discovered in an abandoned building. The body turns out to be linked to a series of killings in the early 1930's.

The Torso Killer, as the depression-era serial killer was dubbed, was a real killer, and one whose identity has never been found. Black has clearly done abundant research on his victims and his history. Parts of the book take place in the 30's and are told from the point of view of a policeman who was hunting for the killer at the time and whose body it is that is discovered at the beginning of the book.

Of course, no one in law enforcement gets just one case at a time, especially when that case is some eighty years cold. So Theresa has other cases to manage as well. These two lines come from a conversation about a young woman with no obvious cause of death.

"If you mean toxic compounds, no, not that they would have had time to grow into her hair anyway. But of course I checked the blood, urine, and gastric as well, since that's what I live to do here, one might call it my raison d'ȇtre, to put disgusting things into little tubes so it can tell us disgusting secrets."

[For those of you who are worried, the "it" is not bad grammar, it's a reference to the Mass Spectrometer machine the speaker is operating.]

This week I wrote exactly three sentences of my work in progress. Pathetic, but at least I eked out enough to have something to give you all!

Benny followed them back to the house in his rental car. He’d flown into Knoxville where he’d managed, Evie noticed with some amusement, to find a Mercedes to rent. God forbid he should anything but a luxury car, even on a short jaunt to a small town.

So what about you? Did you achieve more than I did this week? I sure hope so! Anyway, give us your twos and we'll update this post with links to you!

• Dorte has some very creeepy sentences over at her blog. She's been nice enough to translate them from the Danish for those of us who aren't multi-lingual.
• Leah J Utas has some very moody sentences this week.
  

My Town Monday: I WISH!

Officially, it's holiday season, as if the trees going up before the turkey was cold weren't notice enough. I love the winter season, so I apologize for my elfin twinkle if your nature bears you Grinchward. A cool development in public art this season (how often do I get to say that?) is the flash mob that appears to lay down some awesomeness on ye merry gentlemen. I adore the idea of importing something transcendent right to where the people are. I've made no secret of my love for temporary beauty, and this is quick and lovely and disappears back into the citizenry, ephemeral as a rainbow and as special.

Here's one I was mailed today. If you haven't seen it, it's vocal grandeur in the food court! Let no one say pitch is obsolete now there's auto-tune, because when you're camped next to the Panda Express there are no tuning forks only sporks. Fabulous Choral Flash Mob!

I might have to head to my local Sbarro or Spencer's Gifts, and see if splendor breaks out!

Auction Items Always Hold A Surprise Or Two

I am excited to introduce you to an auction raising funds for a very necessary cause. The 2010 West Side YMCA Teen Center Holiday Give and Give Back Auction is now open. The auction will run from November 25, 2010 to December 10, 2010. Proceeds go to the West Side YMCA in order to support the West Side YMCA Teen Center.

Here’s what the West Side YMCA has to say about its programs:

“The West Side YMCA offers young New Yorkers a safe haven from harsh urban streets and provides a wide range of educational, recreational and health and wellness programs for youth and families. These programs include leadership training and development; service learning; counseling and health awareness; life/social skills; mentoring; computer training; college preparation; evening teen centers; and health and wellness programs. The West Side YMCA currently serves 10,000 young people in its off-site locations and at 5 West 63rd Street.”

The online auction is filled with interesting items that would make wonderful holiday gifts. My Sleuthsister, Deb Lacy, donated a grand collection of Nancy Drew collectibles, which includes a Nancy Drew Watch, in case you need to note the time while you are reminiscing about The Secret of the Old Clock.

There are a number of other interesting book items including several comic book collections. And you can find lots of New York stuff—backstage tour of Lincoln Center, or a framed NY Yankees shirt autographed by Derek Jeter. (He’s still a Yankee, right? It was touch and go there for few days.)

If you are into travel, see if you can find a trip that would suit your fancy—how about Cancun, or Orlando, or, my personal favorite, the coast of North Carolina in October?



Well, that’s all great, you say, but, you are, first and foremost, a writer. Is there anything that would get a writer interested enough to bid? Have I got one for you! How about a one-on-one lunch at Landmarc, in the Time Warner Center with Jennifer Hershey, SVP and Editor in Chief at Random House Publishing Group? Jennifer Hershey has spent more than twenty years in the publishing industry at HarperCollins, Penguin, and Random House. She has worked with a number of best selling authors and, for the right bid, all Ms. Hershey's knowledge will be available for an open discussion with you, and you alone, at one of New York's nicest restaurants.

Online auctions are an easy way to support good causes and to snatch up those holiday gifts all at the same time. To access the main site for the 2010 West Side YMCA Teen Center Holiday Give and Give Back Auction, please click here.

Terrie

Take Your Child to the (Indie) Bookstore Day

In case you're planning to enjoy the first annual Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day-- to celebrate, I will be going into one by myself and behaving childishly-- the national organization of Sisters in Crime would like to suggest you make it an independent. We love our online and big chain retailers, too. Every purveyor of books is a friend, but buying at least one book at an indie this season is to make indies stay around, filling their special niche in our bibliophilic hearts.

Lazy Girl's Link Larceny, Twitter Edition

Tweets and links fly by with the speed of screams down a high-school hallway. With the speed of a class hottie beaming death rays into hopeful hearts, they're shunted into the forgotten spare locker of the interweebs, where abide only nerds and smelly mops. In future, I will make efforts to record from whose scream-stream I'm cadging, but just for today, let's enjoy my lazily accredited larceny.

I got this one from a Sisters in Crime newsletter somewhere. I remember that much. L.J. Sellers breaks down the digital platforms for self-publishing as of late October, identifying the accessible devices from each, royalty percentages, fees (if any), and the all-important pay-out schemes and schedules. Knowledge is power!

I got this one from another one of those newsletters. (Why, yes. I am cleaning out my inbox!) Publisher's Weekly says this Harris poll shows mysteries and thrillers edge out romance novels among people reading at least one book in an average year. I would love a detailed breakdown based upon how many books are read in a year. I'd bet the closer we get to readers of a book a week or more, the stronger the romance numbers would get. But I could be wrong.

This is a list by helpful Amazonian S. Rosen of free Kindle classics. She's been updating regularly, and is up to 26 so far. It includes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz about which some of us have been recently chatting. In this case, even if John R. Neill's illustrations are present, they won't be quite the same. Maybe the iPad version for this one. Although I've heard there's a new kind of thing where you can look at the picture as long as you wish and there's no battery to run out. I can't come up with the name, but I think it's something like Barnes & Noble's Nook.

This one I remembered! Your humble blogger (@clare2e) retweeted it from @emmacunningham. It's a great post from agent Rachelle Gardner's blog about the "required" speed of writing schedules, and knowing one's writing self well enough not to fret or hurry into producing crap. It's comforting for slower scribes like me. We all work quite differently.

LI SinC Welcomes Hank Phillippi Ryan

A new chapter of Sisters in Crime recently formed on Long Island, and I immediately joined (although I happily remain a member of the New York/TriState chapter).

We are very excited to have Emmy award-winning reporter and award-winning author Hank Phillippi Ryan as our guest speaker this Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 2 p.m.

Our meeting, which begins at 1 p.m., is open to the public ~ so if you live in driving distance to Holbrook, Long Island, stop by the Sachem Public Library, 150 Holbrook Road. Hank will join us at 2 p.m. ~ and here's what's in store:

"Using TV Technique to Write a Killer Novel"

THE SCOOP! EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WRITING--HANK LEARNED ON TV!

Here's what you need to do to produce a successful television news story:
Develop memorable characters. Build suspense. Show conflict. Tell a compelling story. Create a satisfying ending. Find justice. Change lives. That's exactly what Boston's premier investigative reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan's been doing for her entire career.

But here's the scoop. Writing a successful mystery, thriller or romantic suspense novel-or short story!--requires exactly the same things. And Hank's years of experience with journalism can now give your book or short story a boost.

With her top-ten list of questions, journalism techniques and solid practical applications, this Emmy- (and double Agatha, Anthony and Macavity-) winning reporter will teach you the secrets of television news. And then: she'll show you exactly how those skills can work for you to develop the novel or short story you always wanted to write. Or to make your next work of fiction better.

It's your chance to learn the inside scoop.

***

Hope to see you this Saturday ~ and spread the word!

Also -- a reminder -- this Saturday is the first "Take Your Child to a Bookstore" day.

Come follow me on Twitter @katcop13.