True Crime: Call for Submissions & Essay Contest

Creative Nonfiction is seeking new essays about true crime. The postmark deadline is September 30, 2011. The Creative Nonfiction Editors will award $1000 for Best Essay.

Guidelines:

Essays must be unpublished; 4,000 words maximum; clearly marked "True Crime" on the Essay and on the outside of the envelope. There is a $20 reading fee (or include a $25 reading fee to include a 4-issue CNF subscription - U.S. submitters only).

Send the manuscript, along with a cover letter with contact information, including the title of the essay, word count, SASE and payment to:

Creative Nonfiction

Attn: True Crime
5501 Walnut Street, Suite 202
Pittsburgh, PA 15232

For more information, check the Creative Nonfiction website.

Come follow me on Twitter @katcop13.

Forgotten Book Friday: The Work of Ira Levin

At the recent Thrillerfest Convention, today’s leading thrill masters, R.L. Stine, Ken Follett and David Morrell, discussed their work and were asked about the work of those authors who came before that they admired. One of these writers was Ira Levin , a man responsible for creating an extraordinary amount of chills and thrills

A native New Yorker, Mr. Levin started writing at the age of 15. He attended the prestigious Horace Mann School and graduated from New York University where he majored in philosophy and English .

From his first novel, A KISS BEFORE DYING, the 1954 Edgar Award Winner, to his most famous, ROSEMARY’S BABY, Mr. Levin set the thrill bar high

Scary. Eerie. Spine-tingling. These words hardly begin to describe the feelings reading his books elicit. Poor Rosemary, literally living next door to, and being ensnared by, the neighbors from hell. And, honestly, it was just as scary as a movie. Watching Mia Farrow as the innocent young housewife and Ruth Gordon as the devil’s agent gave me nightmare for weeks.

Then there was THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL. Imagine a cadre of Hitler clones roaming around trying to recreate the Third Reich? Shudder.

Mr. Levin seemed to instinctively know how to raise the hair on the back of your neck and make you believe these things could happen-- the suspension of disbelief--which is what good writing should do. He did it extremely well as evidenced by his other novels: THE STEPFORD WIVES, THIS PERFECT DAY and SLIVER.

He wrote for Broadway, too starting at age 25 with an adaptation of Mac Hyman’s NO TIME FOR SARGEANTS and later, the Tony Nominated DEATHTRAP, which holds the record for the longest running comedy-thriller on Broadway.

Mr. Levin may be gone. But when it comes to creating more thrills than a body can handle, he’s certainly not forgotten.

Let's be friends on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @cathicopy

On Browsing

Years ago, somewhere in the second half of the last century, I liked to spend Saturday afternoons in the used bookstores that lined Fourth Avenue, a stretch of NYC most tourists don’t discover, which runs between Fourteenth and Eighth Streets.

Those stores were lovely, dark, dusty places, the shelves packed floor to ceiling, where you could browse for hours without being disturbed. In fact you were encouraged to browse rather than disturb the proprietor from his reading. If you did ask where you could find a particular title, you'd be dismissed with an annoyed wave of the hand. The only store to survive is Strand Bookstore, originally on Fourth Avenue and now on 12th and Broadway. It's well worth a visit.

I thought of those bookstores the other evening after we stopped in at our local Borders, its death knell announced by all the 10% to 40% off signs. We picked up a couple of things and when I checked out, I told the young woman at the register how sorry I was the store was closing. “We are too,” she said. “There’s no place left to browse.”

A sad comment indeed.

When we travel, we invariably end up looking for a bookstore because I never bring along enough reading material. (Regarding e-readers, as Paul Newman said to Jessica Tandy in Nobody’s Fool when she offered him a cup of tea: Not today, not ever.) Sometimes we come up dry and are reduced to combing the shelves at the local supermarket. Sometimes, though, there are happy surprises. We recently got back from Galax, Virginia, where we were delighted to find the charming Chapters Bookshop and I picked up a Ngaio Marsh title I didn’t yet own. And then there was our trip last spring to Ojai, California, home of Bart’s Books, a sprawling outdoor bookshop with a vast collection that alone would have made the 3,000-mile trip worth while. When the store’s closed, by the way, you can take a book from one of the shelves along the sidewalk and drop the money in an honor box.

I suppose Amazon is trying to replicate the browsing experience with its “look inside this book” technology, but to my mind, browsing on Amazon is about as exciting as virtual sex. Or virtual chocolate gelato. So, yes, in all things pleasurable, let’s hear it for the real thing.

Familiar Places I’ve Never Been

During a recent vacation, I was surprised to learn I recognized many of the places and streets in Boston even though I was visiting the town for the first time. I realized it came from years of enjoying the adventures of Spenser (Robert B. Parker) and Rizzoli and Isles (Tess Gerritsen). These fictional characters live and work in Boston and I recognized the street names and suggested places we could go because of what they do. Parker's books even have a handy map of Spenser's Boston on the inside of the books.

I had a similar reaction when I went to Dublin, Ireland, for the first time and thought about the places where Roarke and Eve Dallas went in the J.D. Robb books. I’ve never been to Seattle or Bisbee, Arizona, but I’m very familiar with both places thanks to the skillful writing of J.A. Jance. Once I decide I enjoy a character, I never miss the next book in the series.

Though I had a brief vacation in New Orleans, I want to go back and linger awhile after reading most of Dave Robicheaux’s (James Lee Burke) cases and all of the wonderful Southern vampire series that features Sookie Stackhouse (Charlaine Harris). I’ll never be able to visit Sookie’s fictional Bon Temps, Louisiana, but I feel like I know the streets well.

Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher) keeps me up on the supernatural happenings in Chicago, and thanks to Patricia Briggs, I know the Columbia Basin and Spokane, Washington, well through her intrepid Volkswagen mechanic, Mercedes Thompson and a bit about Montana with Charles and Anna in her Alpha and Omega series.

I’ve read every one of John Sanford’s books set in Minnesota and feel like I know the roads traveled by Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers pretty well. I’ve only attended a writer’s conference in Minneapolis once and, frankly, never left the hotel except to go to the airport.

Alex Delaware (Jonathan Kellerman) and Shane Scully (Stephen J. Cannell) taught me enough of the ins and outs of Los Angeles that I fully understood why “Carmageddon,” the repair work on the “405” made such big news across the country.

Our favorite fictional people take us to a different world every time we read a book. That’s the reason we keep reading, and if you’re like me, with recurring characters, they become good friends that you anticipate visiting again and again.

I don’t know where I’ll go next, but I’m thinking it might be Trenton, New Jersey, which isn’t far from my home now. I think it’ll be fun to see the “Berg” where Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich) has hilarious adventures with her gal pal, Lulu.

Two Sentence Tuesday

Here we are again and I am afraid I wrote very, very little last week.  And yesterday, when I should have been writing, I spent most of the day following an acrimonious discussion on my agent's website about their new venture into e-publishing.  I find the whole thing absolutely fascinating and at some point I will probably write a post about these new "publishing houses" being set up by agents, but for the moment what the whole fracas mostly brings home to me is this:

More than ever, authors need to research their options and not jump on the first agent/editor/publisher who offers them a contract.

Aside from all that industry stuff, I started to read Finger Lickin' Dead by Riley Adams.  Here are a couple of sentences from the beginning:

He’s always asking for a little bit of money here and a little bit there. Besides, he has a weak chin. What good is it if you’ve got looks but a weak chin?”

My own writing suffered this week. I got done rewriting one scene, and I really didn't feel like writing more because the next scene also required a rewrite from scratch. But I finally buckled down and started it.

Her eyebrows went up and her lips twisted down. “Right. Like I am going to sleep in a public hospital when someone just put a damned rattlesnake in my car.”

And you? Did you get anything read or written this week? As usual, share where we can find it and we'll update this post as the day goes on with links to you.

• Chris V joins the game this week over at her place. 
• Dorte H also managed to squeeze in some writing time this week.

Hidden New York: Breezy Point, Queens

Along the Atlantic Ocean side of the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens in New York City is a long barrier peninsula known as Rockaway Peninsula. It is that lengthy strip of beach land that you see out the plane window when landing or taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport. And at the western end of the peninsula is the community of Breezy Point, which projects between the Atlantic Ocean and Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay on the landward side.

Shortly before the First World War, the Rockaway Point company decided to develop Breezy Point. According to this history from the website of Kennedy's Restaurant (long a Breezy fixture) here is how it all started.

During the year 1911 Vandeventer started the Rockaway Point company as part of the Southern-Pacific Railway Company. The 900 acre property was to be transformed into a tent city of 1000 tents and several bungalows. There were only six or seven hotels at the point. The new city was to have stores, a dance hall, and churches or chapels for various denominations. The lumber for the boardwalks, bungalows, stores and new hotels was to be brought to the point from Sheepshead bay, in Brooklyn, where by boats, the second hand lumber from the old giant hotels being torn down would be loaded up and ferried to the point.The tearing down of the big hotels had been going on for a time at old Coney Island. It has been reported that whole buildings were also brought over to the point on barges.Evicted residents of Coney Island were looking for a new area for seasonal and year round shore living. The exodus from Brooklyn to the point was a success, with some bringing their own buildings minus an old kitchen sink or two (If you will!).

By 1920 there were more than two thousand bungalows in the Breezy Point community and the residents began to rebel against the Rockaway Point company. By 1960, the residents of the more than four thousand bungalows formed a cooperative, and purchased the land for approximately eleven million dollars. So the houses are individually owned and the land is owned jointly by the residents. It is a totally private community within the confines of New York City.


This is a typical Breezy Point "street" filled with bungalows. You will note that cars are not allowed. You drive in, leave your car in a parking lot, and walk or bike everywhere. Most streets lead to the beach at the Ocean or the beach at the Bay.

I dare say that most of the eight million residents of New York City have no idea that Breezy Point exists. And I bet the residents of this peaceful, pristine beach community like it that way.

Click on the My Town Monday blog to travel to other great places.
Terrie

UPDATE: J Winter shares the history of Coney Island, only this serves chilidogs Cincinnati-style from the muddy banks of the Ohio River. Debra from the Of Skilled Hands blog shares pictures of fierce flooding from her tiny town.  Barrie Summy visits Marine Street beach in La Jolla, CA.

Dances With Wolf Pups

I've talked before about the wonderful (and wonderous) Wolf Conservation Center that's pretty much in our backyard (okay, it's 20 minutes from our house...same thing). One of the amazing things they do involves their "ambassador wolves," who are raised and socialized not to be terrified of people the way most wolves are.  This allows people to come visit without the wolves running and hiding.  Up until last year, they had four ambassador wolves, one of whom was so comfortable around people he could go to schools, libraries, etc, so that people could meet him in their own habitats.

Tragically, wolves don't have terribly long lives, and last year three of the ambassadors died.  This left only Atka, the Arctic wolf who goes out on visits.  So the WCC contracted with another facility to get a couple of pups.  Then they sent out email and asked people to buy playdates.

Well, the email arrived in December, so naturally that was what my husband and I gave each other for Xmas this year. We were assigned our date back in May, and I've been waiting anxiously ever since.

Finally, on Wednesday, our day arrived! There were a rather large number of rules and regulations about what we couldn't do (no alpha games, no waking up the pups if they're asleep, etc), but we didn't care. We just wanted to see the wolves. I mean, how often do you actually get to pet a 3-month-old wolf pup?

Alawa, the female (the fawn-colored one), was shy, but Zephyr was excited to meet us. Though both are "gray wolves," and, indeed, come from the same litter, they look quite different. Apparently, Zephyr was born entirely black but has begun to turn gray. (This is true of many dogs as well--they will be born black and gradually grow into their true colors.) It would be a shame if he lost all his black, because he's very handsome at this point.

The wolves slept most of the time we were there--they are, after all, only three months old and it was close to 90 degrees--but we had a great time anyway. You can see a full set of the pictures I took on my Wolves in NY site. Don't worry, there aren't a million, only 17. I'll leave you with this one, with wolfy bookends.

To learn more about wolves and the struggle to keep them from becoming completely extinct, you can follow the WCC blog, which also always has great pictures and video. I also urge you to go find the "wild things" in your own backyard!

Wanted: Two Heads

Photo from www.2pep.com

For an idea of just how ubiquitous co-authored fiction has become, take a quick look at Wikipedia’s Literary Collaborations, as incomplete a list as it is a daunting one.

It’s no accident that genres that tend to spawn collaborations are a little bit out-there and lots of fun to plot. Sci fi, fantasy, paranormal, thriller, romantic suspense. They often require more than one head. (Just how to put those heads together is the subject of another post!)

Co-authors are of particular interest to me because I’m part of a team writing a YA paranormal. It’s a real kick, due, in part, to the freedom we feel to let our imaginations run wild in brainstorming sessions. The plot, in fact, comes easy. Our biggest decision is what to call ourselves. Do we come up with a pseudonym or list our names?

The hardest thing about a single nom de plume, it appears to me, is how to introduce the writing team. Do we speak in the singular or plural? Take this bio, for example, from the wonderful P.J. Parrish’s website (then check out our Laura's review of Parrish's latest on Criminal Element):

“P.J. Parrish is the New York Times bestselling author of ten Louis Kincaid and Joe Frye thrillers. The author is actually two sisters, Kristy Montee and Kelly Nichols. Their books have appeared on both the New York Times and USA Today best seller lists. The series has garnered 11 major crime-fiction awards, and an Edgar® nomination. Parrish has won two Shamus awards, one Anthony and one International Thriller competition. Her books have been published throughout Europe and Asia.”

Might it be easier to just spill it? Let the world know you’re a team from the get-go, as in Sci Fi’s The Golden Key, by Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, and Kate Elliott. All three names appear on the cover.

These two: C. T. Adams and Cathy Clamp (“also writing as CAT Adams”) use both approaches. Then there’s Charles Todd, who is actually Charles-Todd-along-with-his-mother, Carolyn, who appears to have sacrificed something in the hitch up.

Most recently, and in keeping with the hype about Swedish thrillers, was an interview on NPR’s Morning Edition with the Swedish author Lars Kepler who wrote The Hypnotist. Ahem. In this review by Barry Forshaw, we learn:

“There were those who felt that the writer ‘Lars Kepler’ was notably overhyped in Sweden ahead of this debut crime-fiction novel. The concealing pseudonym became a major news story. Just who was the mysterious Kepler? After the publication of The Hypnotist – which enjoyed acclaim and bestseller status in Sweden – local media inaugurated a frantic search for the enigmatic author. It was subsequently revealed that 'he' was a husband-and-wife team, both hitherto literary authors, writing in tandem: Alexandra and Alexander Ahndoril. Unveiled and pressing the flesh in London, the two Alexes turned out to be a charming couple who admit that their ‘serious’ careers have stalled since the Frankenstein's monster that is Mr Kepler entered their lives.”

I recall from Morning Edition that this husband and wife used to argue fiercely until they came up with a pseudonym, began thinking and talking about - and to - “him” as a person, and fed him tea and lemon biscuits, although they themselves prefer coffee. Apparently the three of them now get on famously.

(Read the whole fabulous story about how Lars Kepler was outed, written by the author him/herself on Criminal Element!)

Public Safety Writers Conference - 2011

I recently attended the Public Safety Writers Conference at The Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, held July 14-17, 2011. This was my third year attending, and it just keeps getting better. Attendees learned valuable advice on the craft of writing, promotion, the future of publishing, and much more. Due to the cozy size of the conference, the networking opportunities are phenomenal.

Give a thought to attending next year ~ you'd be glad you did!

Unfamiliar with The Public Safety Writers Association? Here's the scoop:

Founded in 1997 as the Police Writers Club, the Public Safety Writers Association is open to both new and experienced, published and not yet published writers. Members include police officers, civilian police personnel, firefighters, fire support personnel, emergency personnel, security personnel and others in the public safety field. Also represented are those who write about public safety including mystery writers, magazine writers, journalists and those who are simply interested in the genre. The association also welcomes publishers, editors, agents and others who help writers realize their writing goals.

Topics at the 2011 conference included:

• What's Your Elevator Pitch?
• How TV & Movies Get it Wrong
• It's Not a Book, It's a Movie
• Have Couch, Will Travel: Secrets from the Police Shrink's Office
• New Developments in Writing for Trade Publications - Paper and Online
• Bringing Fictional Characters to Life
• Putting Out the Fire (firefighting in writing)
• Subtext Through Dialogue and Action
• What's Missing in Your Manuscript?
• Promotion Today
• Using Forensic Evidence in Storylines
• Writing with a Partner
• Big Changes in the Publishing Biz
• Undercover Characters
• The Importance of Setting
• Military Writing

Presenters included Tom Edmonds, C.S. Wyatt, Holli Castillo, Michael A. Black, Robert Haig, John W. Mills, Dr. Ellen Kirshman.

There's an annual writing competition, and I'm honored to have won two flash fiction awards, for "Heat of Passion" and "Beholden."

Congratulations to all the award winners, including John M. Wills, W.S. Gager, Dr. Ellen Kirschman, and Holli Castillo. Thanks to Michelle Perin for the incredible job managing the contest each year ~ and to all the judges who volunteered their time to read and evaluate the entries.

Thanks, Marilyn Meredith and Keith Bettinger for all of your efforts in making this conference a reality!

My calendar's already marked for next year's conference, set for July 12-15, 2012. Hope you consider joining the association and/or attending the conference.

Come follow me on Twitter at @katcop13.

Two Sentence Tuesday

Well, it's Tuesday, and while I haven't written a great deal this past week, I did read a new book by PJ Parrish called The Killing Song. I give you a taste of what I really enjoyed about it over on Criminal Element as one of their "Fresh Meat" posts.  Here are another two teaser sentences:

I tried to push her aside so I could see more, see if Mandy would get up and move. But Nora was stronger than me.

That's all, just two. But here's a bit MORE information...we're also going to have PJ visiting us here on the blog and we'll be giving away two copies of the new book! When I have a specific date, believe me I'll let you know.
And two from me:

His tone was unbearably gentle and Lucy felt tears clog the back of her throat once more. But Ethan slid her off his lap and went to the door to greet the paramedics.

And you? What did you write? What did you read? As usual, share it here and we'll update this post as the day goes on with links to you.

• Leah J. Utas plays along with two from Bloodlovers this week!

Mini My Town Monday: Menu Fun with Mamaroneck, NY Mexican

One of our fine local establishments with good food but iffy proofreading makes its delightful fare sound less-than-appetizing.

Go visit the My Town Monday blog for more entries, including Barrie Summy's breakdown of reptile dating habits in San Diego, Evil J Winter's reprised salute to Cincinnati's astronaut--Neil Armstrong, and Jennette Marie Powell claiming Best Potato Chips for Dayton.

I've gone a-visiting

Hello all. In case you are wondering where I am today, I'm visiting our good friends over at the Criminal Brief Weblog Project.

Leigh Lundin invited me to give a walking tour of sorts all around the mega informative Criminal Element site and to let you know how all the great crime info can be easily found. I invite you to come along.

Click here to join the tour.

There is a world of entertainment at Criminal Element, you've only to take the time to stroll through the pages.

Terrie

A Trailer

I just had to share this.  I know not everyone loved the Robert Downey, Junior Sherlock Holmes movie, but I did.  So here's a trailer for the next one, which I am considering my own, personal Christmas present from Hollywood.

Top Suspense Group Blog

Last November I told you that a number of dazzling authors joined forces in The Top Suspense Group as a means of making their work easily available for e-readers. The original group included our friends Dave Zeltserman, Ed Gorman and Bill Crider among others. You can read that post here.

Top Suspense has expanded a time or two, adding more great writers to the mix and now they have opened a blog where they talk about, among other things, suspense. Why not click on over and follow the conversation? You're sure to enjoy it.

Terrie

Two Sentence Tuesday

It's Tuesday! I'm tired! Why do I feel as if I write that same thing every week? Maybe without the exclamation points?!

This week I give you a the opening two sentences of Kate Brady's Last to Die. The book was okay (romantic suspense), but some things I think she does really well, like evocative descriptions:

Whoops and giggles, the scent of Belgian waffles in the air, the screech of balloons being bullied into bubble-eared poodles. The sidewalks teemed with mothers pushing overstuffed strollers and fathers talking into Bluetooth earpieces, while preschool children orbited their parents like forgotten moons—lagging behind, straying from the paths, lured from arm’s reach by the colorful remnants of popped poodles on the ground or the call of a snow cone vendor.

My own writing, as usual, is going very slowly. Here are a couple of sentences from a new scene I am writing into my revision:

The wrenching pain had surrounded Lucy’s whole left leg and every beat of her heart felt as if it overstretched veins too thin to hold her blood. She whimpered, then concentrated on the phone in her hand.

And you? How's your writing coming? How about your reading? Give us a sample and we'll update the post as the day goes on with a link to your site.

• Leah J. Utas has two sentences...and some FABULOUS goats...at her site this week. 
• Dorte H is sharing a gruesome story at her place. A whole short, or at least the first part of it.

And the winner is...

I had a grand time chatting with Travis Erwin a few days back and he kindly offered a free copy of his e-book Whispers to one lucky commenter. and the winner is:

DORTE

You can also find Travis on his new blog, Lettuce Is the Devil which talks about a new book he is presently writing He also launched a Facebook page and Twitter account under the same name.

Well, I am off to email Dorte the good news. The rest of you can link on over to Amazon and buy an interesting read: two short stories and a memoir vignette for the unbelievably low price of ninety-nine cents. Buy Whispers.

Booked for Fun

Last Friday the weekend section of The New York Time ran an article by Dwight Garner that both authors and readers like should appreciate.

Describing an activity the author calls the book game, or paperback game, it offers a new take on classic activities such as charades while giving families and friends with a literary bent a new form of summertime entertainment.

As Mr. Garner explains it, all you need are some slips of paper or index cards, pencils and a pile of paperback books or any sort, the cheesier the better.

To find out how it works, read his article, “What’s Scrabble When You Can Play Novelist”. As a author your book (I’m sure it won’t be one of the cheesy ones) might be included. And for readers, you might have fun doing a little writing of your own.

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

Be careful picking your advisors?

Silly as it is, I guess it made me think about the heaps and oodles and piles and plethorai (sp?) of people willing to give instruction--and charge for it--how to write and what to write, and I'm not currently a very good customer.

Which is not to say I've got it all figured.

I have complained here (oh, I know I have) about my poorly attempted revisions of this story I've kept trying to turn into a novel.   Nevertheless, I feel I may be at the point where I'm just plain topped up with advice, and I don't think I care to hear or can use one more thing until I've got tens of thousands of words behind me.

This time, the plot and character scheme fits on one side of a very small piece of paper.  It's either radically brilliant, like an equation that packs a lot of meaning into a little space. Or, I should get tutered.
Image via FailBlog, of course!

Travis Erwin Whispers Lettuce is the Devil

Actually, that headline is misleading. Travis Ewin has been shouting Lettuce is the Devil for all the time I know him. I am very excited to tell you that we have been offered the opportunity to giveaway an e-book to one lucky commenter on this post. The book is called Whispers, and according to Travis, the novella sized collection contains two short stories and a memoir vignette. Travis and I will talk for a bit and you can let us know in the comments if you’d like to be considered for this giveaway. Comments will be accepted until 5 pm on Saturday, July 9th. Now let’s get talking.

So, Travis, we “met” years ago in the blogosphere. How did you decide to open the blog One Word, One Rung, One Day? And do you still enjoy it?

If I'm not mistaken both y'alls Women of Mystery blog and mine started on the exact same day April 1st, 2007. I used to know two other than began then but both those people have since stopped blogging.

Actually, Travis, you were quicker than we were. The Women of Mystery blog opened for business (and fun) just one day later, on April 2nd.

Ok, back to the actual question. I went to a week long writing workshop in February of '07. I'd already been writing seriously for about 5 or 6 years and had won some awards and stuff. Even had a short story or two published but I didn't realize I needed to be building a name. Several of the agents and editors there mentioned how important it was to have an identifiable web presence. I was a huge fan of Miss Snark and had learned a ton about the publishing business from her blog so I thought, “Hey, I should blog as well.”

I do still enjoy it but it is also a struggle to create worthwhile posts. After a while it begins to feel as if I'm simply saying the same things over and over. And truthfully Facebook has stolen some of the enthusiasms I once had for blogging. Social Media has certainly changed and I'm not sure I'd recommend a writer without a web presence to start building one via blogs. I think Twitter and Facebook are more important now, but perhaps that's just me. I like that I can update either of those via my phone.

Having said that I did start a new blog titled Lettuce Is the Devil back in March to help promote a book project I am currently working on. Of course I also launched a Facebook page and Twitter account under the same name.

As you banter back and forth with the Women of Mystery and your many other followers, do you find that blogging helps or hinders your creativity as a writer?

Without a doubt blogging has helped me as both a writer and in life. The network of friends I now have worldwide is incredibly supportive and helpful. I have sold several stories to venues that I never would have known about without this network of friends. And inversely when that tough rejection comes in (and they always do when you are a writer) it's nice to have friends who fully understand the lows of this pursuit. And of course when my home burned in January of 2009 my friends offered more than moral support. They launched a fundraising site that truly lifted me and my family from the ashes of despair and financial ruin.

Having said all that, there is only so much water in the bucket. If you spend time writing and creating entertaining blog posts it takes away from time you could have spent writing fiction or what many call their “real writing.” However, I firmly believe even my writing is more “real” now that it would have been without my blog. Writing the blog and getting feedback and having people invest a bit of their time to read my words helped build me confidence, and try new things as a writer.

And speaking of your writing, please tell us a little about your project, “Whispers” currently available in nook and kindle format.

Whispers is a novella length collection of 2 short stories and a memoir vignette. They stories are about love, hope, and fear. Over the years I've transitioned to a more humorous style of writing, and I like making people laugh but I also enjoy darker more emotionally heavy stories because life isn't a Disney movie. Things do not always work up to a fairy tale ending of glitter and rainbows. But hope is the thing that keeps all of us going. The stories in Whispers are about hope in the face of loss and tragedy.

I wanted to prove to myself, and if I'm honest, to others as well that I can pull off that kind of writing. I've been very pleased by the positive reviews it has gotten though selling 10 bajillion copies wouldn't hurt either. Only 9.99 bajillion more to go and I'm there.

What is it with you and lettuce?

I hate it. Actually I hate nearly all veggies, especially the green ones. It all tastes like grass to me and besides that it is food' s food. I am proud to be a human at the top of the food chain so I see no reason not to take full advantage and snack away on the things that make me and my gut happy, which isn't salads. Lettuce is the gateway vegetable to what many call a healthy lifestyle. But once you start down that slippery road you have imprisoned yourself to standards and guidelines that deny yourself happiness. For some that is the right choice but I'd rather live 60 happy years than 80 having to ignore my culinary wants and desires. Besides that I love to torment vegans and telling one your life motto is “Lettuce Is the Devil” always gets a reaction.

Please tell us how you wound up writing your book in-progress , Lettuce is the Devil and why you think we’ll enjoy it?

Like I said, that title is my life motto. Actually the full book title is Lettuce Is the Devil: The Culinary Dogma of a Devout Meat Man. Oddly enough it was inspired by a vegetarian and a near vegetarian. Writing pals Erica Orloff and Stephen Parrish have been urging me to write a food book for several years know. We often banter back and forth via the blog and other social media about our lifestyle choices and despite not seeing eye to eye we make each other laugh.

So it's been a project lurking in my mind for a while, but I never sat down and wrote a word on it until I misplaced my thumbdrive which contained the only copy of a chapter in this women's fiction manuscript I was working on. Too disgusted to start that chapter over I started Lettuce Is the Devil and began the aforementioned blog, Facebook page and twitter account. A friend who was interning for a literary agent saw some of chatter and one thing led to another and I now have an agent repping me and the project. Hopefully the proposal package will go out to editors very soon.

The book is part humor essay, part memoir, and part cook book so it is my hope readers will be entertained with both laughter and a tasty recipe or ten.


And what is your favorite food?

The best thing I've ever put in my mouth is slow smoked elk tenderloin. But procuring elk tenderloin is an expensive endeavor when you live on the flat windy plains of Texas so let me add it is dang hard to beat a bacon cheeseburger done right. Hold the lettuce please.

And could you give a little plug here to your story Plundered Booty in the anthology Deadly By the Dozen edited by Mark Terry?

Man would that question ever read different if you left out the word story.

Plundered Booty is a modern day pirate tale connecting the red dirt of Oklahoma to the white sands of the Caribbean. It is a tale of lost love, pillaged dreams, and ill-gotten gains told via Hank Zybeck, an honest and loyal car salesman. Hank is a simple, easy going fellow who certainly knows 1+1=2, but unlike math, life is never a simple equation. Even when, like Hank’s, your life is made up entirely of ones.
One wife, Rachel. Hank’s high school sweetheart and wife of fifteen years.
One job, Habershaw Ford Lincoln and Mercury.
One dream. To visit the Caribbean.
Hank has spent his entire life reading and learning about the islands and his one true desire is to inhale the salty air, to swim in the tranquil turquoise waters, to feel the warm white sand beneath his toes. But the numbers don’t add up to happiness when Hank's longtime boss dies. JUNIOR HABERSHAW takes over the dealership for his dad and complicates the arithmetic. Subtract a mentor, add in a demented rogue son, a bunch derelict car salesmen, a quiet subdued finance manager, and a nagging ball buster of a wife.
Factor in Hank’s lifelong obsession with pirates, rum, and all things Caribbean.
Divide by lust, greed, and revenge.
What does that leave you? Abandoned love, destroyed dreams, and … Plundered Booty.

Plundered Booty appears with eleven other great Stories in DEADLY BY THE DOZEN. Available for nook, kindle, and other ereaders via smashwords.

Travis, thanks so much for stopping by to visit with the Women of Mystery. You know we wish you ever success and look forward to reading about the Devil Lettuce and your wisdom on the matter. Readers, don't forget to comment if you want a chance to win an e-copy of Whispers.


Terrie

Hit Like a Woman, Honey

Carina Chocano’s piece in last Sunday’s NYT Magazine decrying “strong female characters” has sparked a lot of reaction. It came up here on Two Sentence Tuesday when I responded to our Laura’s intriguing protag Lucy, a woman who feels naked if she’s not armed.

Let me put it plainly. I am for strong woman, in life and in fiction.

I tried to give Chocano’s piece a thoughtful read, but she writes cute and takes a long time making her point, so it was difficult to figure out exactly what she was getting at. However, I gleaned this much:

When she hears the term “strong female character,” Chocano would like to punch the speaker, but can’t because she hits “like a girl.” (I am not making this up.)

She claims that the term—let’s abbreviate it to SFC—has spawned such “cinematic clichés” as Lisbeth Salander, women who sacrifice relationships to career, and “pretty much every character Jodie Foster has played since ‘Nell’ or, possibly, ‘Freaky Friday.’”

If people use SFC to mean women who “figure predominantly in the story,” that’s okay with Chocano. She suspects, though, that they mean characters who are “tough, cold, terse, taciturn and prone to scowling and not saying goodbye when they hang up the phone.” Characters like these, she says, are “often just female characters with the gendered behavior taken out.”

“Gendered behavior,” meaning what? Whining? Buying a lot of shoes? Sitting down instead of standing? At any rate, according to Chocano, the concept of SFC reinforces the “unspoken idea” that female characters need to “rein in the gross girly stuff.” She believes that’s a bad thing.

The problem, she says, isn’t that there aren’t enough SFCs; the problem is the lack of “realistically weak” female characters. By that she means a “girl who reminds you of you.”

I suspect Chocano and I are on opposite sides of a vast generational divide—for example, the people I’d like to slap silly are the ones who use the term ‘girl’ when they should say woman—but let’s get past that. Since she admits to being confused about what people mean by strong female characters, I thought I’d mention some. I’ve kept it to films and TV, since that’s what her piece focuses on. As far as crime fiction goes, the list would go on forever. SFCs are, after all, our specialty.

So here are a few of my favorite SFCs:

Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison in “Prime Suspect.” This woman is tough and relentless as she deals with bad guys and sexist cops. Yeah, the job comes first but she likes sex too.

Melissa Leo as Toni Bernette in “Tremé.” She’s a public service lawyer who butts heads with the system fighting for her clients.

Leo again as Alice Ward in “The Fighter.” Okay, Alice is the mother from hell, but you’ve got to love her. And thank God she’s not yours.

Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson in “Fargo.” She’s a great cop, very pregnant and very smart.

Charlize Theron as Josey Aimes in “North Country”; Meryl Streep as Silkwood; Sally Fields as Norma Rae; Jody Foster as Clarice Starling in “The Silence of the Lambs.”

And of course Lisbeth Salander. To my mind an absolute original and not a cliché at all.

I’d love to hear from you on this. Am I being too tough on Chocano? SFCs, yes or no? Some examples?

Two Sentence Tuesday

I suppose the second half of the year has officially begun and regardless of how fried my brain is at the moment I do have to get back to regular life after two conferences and a wedding.

You know I've been busy when I only just finished reading the same book I had two sentences from last week!  But here are two more from Jane Graves' contemporary romance, Black Ties and Lullabies.  These really made me giggle:

Lawanda’s sense of style entered a room before she did. And because she was a plus-size woman, it filled every molecule of space once it was there.

On the writing front, I've been re-writing my romantic suspense from the ground up. It's going to be a completely different book with the same plot when it's done.  Nothing like writing a book twice.  Or even three times.  Oh, well! So, having completely thrown away the first scene of my manuscript, here's the brand, spanking new first paragraph:

Every battle called for a specific weapon, and over the years Lucy had become accustomed to carrying at least one at all times. Now, without the weight of a pistol at her hip or back, the reassuring bite of a sheath at her ankle, or even the knowledge of a can of Mace in her purse, she felt supremely vulnerable. But she could hardly walk into a police station armed to the teeth, no matter how much she might prefer to.

Still not perfect, but I like the beginning of the book much better. You don't meet nearly as many people, or get nearly as much information, so all that stuff has to be slotted in more carefully later on. Blech. Hard.
And you? Have you read anything this week? Written anything? As usual, let us know and we'll link to you!

• Leah J Utas is with us this week. 
• Dorte H has some of the nastiest sentences I've ever read in the comments this week.

Born on the Fourth of July

Happy Birthday America.

Lots of Americans share the nation's birthday. I'm just going to mention a few who have touched my life in some way.

"Smiling Mickey" Welch was born July 4, 1859, and played for the Troy Trojans and the New York Gothams/Giants from 1880 to 1892 as a pitcher and an outfielder. In 1884, he struck out the most consecutive batters who were starting players in a game—nine. That record holds to this day. And in 1889 he is credited with being the first pinch hitter in Major League baseball history. It is always good to know Mickey's stats when someone wants to bet on an obscure sports fact. Take their bet or not, you always have Mickey in your back pocket,

Calvin Coolidge, thirtieth President of the United States, was born on July 4, 1872 and is the only President born on the Fourth of July. He assumed the office on August 2, 1923 due to the death of President Warren Harding. Coolidge ran for one term in 1924 but declined to run in 1928. He was President during a time of great prosperity in America but if you had an entire decade, say the 1950s or 60s, to listen to my family elders in deep discussion, Coolidge’s lack of economic regulatory policies combined with his vetoing the promised bonuses for World War One veterans led directly to the Great Depression. This position is vindicated within the family by the fact that Coolidge died of a heart attack in January, 1933 at the depth of phase one of the Depression. Apparently there are now economists who point a finger at Coolidge as well. Who knew?

Peace Activist and paralyzed veteran of the Viet Nam War, Ron Kovic was born on July 4, 1946, just four days before my own birth. Saigon had barely fallen when Kovic’s magnificent book, Born on the Fourth of July, was released. You may have seen the movie of the same name directed by Oliver Stone. By his honesty and perseverance Ron Kovic showed us all what war does to the soldiers who we send to fight it, and how unprepared we are to meet their physical and emotional needs when they came home to an unwelcoming nation.

George M. Cohan, actor, entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, singer, dancer, and producer was the product of a Vaudeville family who always claimed that his birthday was July 4, 1878, although his birth certificate reads July 3rd. There was never a major event in my childhood that did not include the impromptu singing of many of Cohan’s songs: “Over There,” “Give My Regards to Broadway,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” ‘The Yankee Doodle Boy.” In fact sometimes, they eclipsed the Irish songs entirely.

And the award for Person Born on the Fourth of July Who Has Brought the Most Joy to My Life goes to—drum roll—my only daughter and oldest child. Happy Birthday, Firecracker. >

Terrie

My First Live Interview

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of being interviewed about Telling Lies by Lisa Chen of Our Town, a newspaper featuring news about the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It was my first 'live' interview and it was a great experience, and hopefully good publicity for the book.

Lisa and I met in Madison Square Park in front of the statue of President Chester A. Arthur. Since this corner of the park is the setting for a pivotal scene in my next novel, Keeping Secrets, I felt it was a totally appropriate setting.

To read the interview online at Our Town', just click on the link below. I hope you enjoy it.

http://ourtownny.com/2011/07/01/east-side-author-tells-no-lies/

Let's be friends on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @cathicopy

Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Square_Park

What would Pendergast Say about the Crime Writer's Involvement?

Courtesy Douglas Preston/ CNN

I'm a fan of Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child's Pendergast novels.  Larger and deeper than life, they usually dig into areas of art and history that I find fascinating--not surprising since Preston's first big job was in the American Museum of Natural History. Besides, as a person who isn't always cool and collected, I love that strange, haunted, wealthy, preternaturally-intelligent FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast is.  I'm about the quality of the ride as much as the realism, often moreso, so this series works for me.

Douglas Preston has written non-fiction as well, and been involved with true crime before, most notably, involving a horrific string of Italian murders and mutilations of lovers in flagrante from 1968 through 1985.  His work with Italian journalist Mario Spezi, who brought the crimes to his attention, resulted in the book The Monster of Florence a couple of years ago. It also brought both Spezi and Preston under the unhappy legal attentions of members of the polizia and the courts who didn't like the authors' criticism of the case's fieldwork, evidence handling, and conclusions.

It's that experience which now leads Preston to doubt the thoroughness of his once-adversary, Giuliano Mignini, the associate prosecutor in the case against now-convicted student Amanda Knox.  If you don't recall this story breaking, it was another salacious affair, seeing as the official conclusion was that sex games had gone awry between Knox and her Italian boyfriend, leading to the death of British co-ed Meredith Kercher.  According to Emanuella Grinberg's CNN story, recalling both involvements:

The [Monster] case also left its mark on Mignini, who was convicted and received a 16-month suspended sentence for abusing his office over law enforcement tactics - such as the wiretapping of offices -- in the "Monster of Florence" investigation. Mignini is appealing the conviction, but the allegations were still fresh when he was assigned to Knox's case in 2007.

Knox and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted in 2009 of murdering Kercher and sentenced to prison. But many, including Preston and Knox's family, believe the case was flawed from the start by shoddy police work, sloppy evidence handling and a prosecutor under pressure to secure a conviction.

Preston has questions about Knox's confession, given his own experience with Mignini's extraction of statements, using, among other things, lack of a translator to increase the chances of obtaining the desired disclosures, according to the author.  Apparently, there is now some question, too, about the DNA evidence against Knox.  To me, for sure, this case is a murky one.  From what I know, Knox has behaved strangely for an innocent person and her demeanor has seemed "off" to investigators and the public alike.  However, if the investigation homed in on the wrong person from the start, therefore mistakenly, a killer is free and many innocent lives beyond the victim's have been harmed.

Do you think Preston may be looking for trouble because of his own bad experiences? If you found something in real-life that reflected eerily either fiction you'd worked on or cases you'd researched, perhaps as background, would you try (and how would you) to bring it to the attention of people who could use the information?  (Being that our Kathy writes true crime and was a cop, I might guess her answer would be YES, but she might have a different path to get information to the right parties?)  For the rest of us--and if we aren't so credentialed, or as well-known or well-heeled as Douglas Preston--what would you do?

The Blue Geranium Redux

Last night I came home late and was desperate to relax with a cup of tea and some mind caressing entertainment. I flipped to the DVR and was delighted that I had taped a PBS Miss Marple episode from earlier in the evening, The Blue Geranium, starring Julia McKenzie as the indefatigable Miss Marple.

While I enjoyed it tremendously, tv being the medium it is, Miss Marple spent a lot more time flitting around while she "observed." In the original story the show is based on, Miss Marple is at a dinner party, listens to what is said about a recent tragedy and in her own quiet way points out the solution. I talked about the short story, The Blue Geranium several years ago when Patti Abbott did a "forgotten short story" segment of Forgotten Book Friday. So here is that old post, in case you, too, saw the PBS show.

And as always, I recommend that you wander over to Patti Abbott's blog for a look at this week's forgotten books.

Terrie