An Encyclopedia of Murder

A Miscellany of Murder

From History and Literature to True Crime and Television, a Killer Selection of Trivia

Executed by The Monday Murder Club

This could be subtitled, “Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Murder But Were Afraid to Ask.” What a great book! You’ll find terrific tidbits on everything from true crime, real serial killers, and your favorite fictional detectives and villains to crimes of Biblical proportions . . . literally. Sometimes you even get to test your knowledge to see how well versed you are on a particularly deadly subject.

Did you know Lizzie Borden didn’t actually give her mother (it was her step-mother) forty whacks? How many years was “Rockford Files” on TV? Who played Ted Bundy in the TV movie, “The Deliberate Stranger?” What former Seattle police officer now writes true crime books? You’ll find answers to these and thousands of other questions in A Miscellany of Murder.

The information in this book was compiled by a group of writers who called themselves the Monday Murder Club. Andy McAleer, Paula Munier, Stephen D. Rogers, James Shannon and Mo Walsh get together every week. They pass around copies of their material, read the pieces aloud, and then critique them in writing and orally. Obviously they’re like most of us, true fans of murder in any element. They’ve collected enough trivia to have their own version of the game and it’s fascinating to read.

The book is dedicated to “mystery lovers and true crime aficionados everywhere” and has a foreword written by Hallie Ephron. It’s laid out in a manner for quick reads or has a great index in the back for searching for the particular murder or murderer you have an interest in.

The book is divided into the seven deadly sins and each murder mentioned is linked to one of these causes. Take lust for example:

Lust for sex. Lust for power. Lust for life—and death. The Marquis de Sade knew whereof he spoke. As the first of the seven deadly sins, lust commands a special place in the lexicon of transgression. It’s a trigger-happy emotion that can turn from inarticulate ardor to homicidal mania on a dime. Lust is the sin that drives ordinary people to extraordinary measures, one corpse—or more—at a time.

And their example of the sin action:

Lust for Death

Jane Toppan liked to climb into bed with her dying patients and hold them close as they began to slip away from the world of the living. In fact, she liked to overdose them with morphine, then bring them back from the brink of death with atropine before finally killing them off for good. Toppan, born in Boston in 1857, worked as a nurse at Cambridge Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital before embarking on a twenty-year career as a private nurse and murderer. She finally overreached herself in 1901, when four members of one family died under her care in a six-week period. All were given lethal amounts of morphine. When apprehended, Toppan confessed to killing thirty-one people and said she was sexually aroused by the act of killing-reviving-killing. She was confined to a state mental institution until she died at age eighty-one.

You take every sin and every action and you’ve got a book filled with facts and trivia that will keep you up at night checking the latches on doors and windows.

There are also many ways to give your brain a good workout. The book is filled with mix and match and Q&A puzzles that are loads of fun:

Lazy Does It

1. Who gave us his take of the court system in The Ways of the Hour, published in 1850?

2. Who introduced legal loopholer attorney Randolph Mason in the 1896 collection of short stories titled, The Strange Schemes of Randolph Mason?

3. Which pulp writer, turned bestselling creator of Nero Wolfe, published the 20,000- word legal novella Justice Ends at Home in All-Story magazine?

Find the answers at the end of the blog.

In between the stories and tidbits of information are famous quotes about murder and murderers. This is one of my particular favorites:

“Some men are alive simply because it is against the law to kill them.” —Edgar Watson Howe

If you’d like to have a copy of A Miscellany of Murder, signed by all the authors, share your idea about the perfect murder. It can’t be too difficult, right? People have been doing it for years.

The contest will be on until 7 p.m. Wednesday and the winner will be announced on Friday!

If you need some good ideas, you may want to go ahead and buy a copy of the book.

Answers to the Lazy quiz: 1) James Fenimore Cooper; 2) Melville Davisson Post; 3) Rex Stout, whose 1915 story features lazy, slow-witted, yet likable-lawyer Simon Leg.

Technically Correct Is Not Enough

I've been reading a book recently that I don't want to name because I don't want to call the author out in public. It's a good book. Well-rounded characters and a nice, twisty plot. Plenty of murders to keep the action (and blood) flowing. But the author has a verbal tic and it's driving me insane.

Every time she wants to use a construction like "she had not thought of that aspect" or "he had not heard of such a thing," instead of saying "she hadn't" or "he hadn't," she says "she'd not" and "he'd not."  She does the same thing with "would" constructions: "She'd not be going to the store after all."

And no, she's not a British author. Maybe she was raised in the UK, I don't know, but she's writing as an American, using American spellings and slang, for an American audience, and the story's set in an American city.

Technically, the phraseology is correct.  There's nothing wrong with it. But every single time I see it, I want to scream and throw my Kindle against the wall.  How is it possible that her editor didn't tell her to fix it?

Yes, I realize this is picky, but it's precisely the kind of reason that you need to be more than a grammar nerd to be a writer and/or editor. You have to have an actual ear for language and for story. Fiction's a different beast than non-fiction, too, with different requirements and conventions. I see so many people these days hanging out their shingles as "book doctors" or "editors" and I always wonder...are you just a grammar nerd, or do you have fiction chops?

Please, writers out there, I beg of you...don't toss me out of your story with preventable verbal tics. Get them fixed or I won't pick up your next book--my Kindle's too valuable to slam it into the wall!

Reading, Lending, & Talking Books

Photo By mitikusa
Hey, I love paper books too. I like to read them and stack them and poke through my bookshelves for an old favorite, and like everyone else I love to smell them. But I really do not like to be challenged about my adoption of eBooks.

Here at Women of Mystery we relish both the written and electronic word. So in time for the weekend, when foul weather may keep you off the streets, I offer a few ways to find something you like on the shelf, be it constructed of wood or of binary digits.

If you've reluctantly put down a book you hated to finish, check out What Should I Read Next? Type a favorite title and watch the site generate a list of similar books.

If you'd rather chat with like-minded folks about reading, there's Goodreads, Library Thing, Shelfari, aNobii, BookJetty, and weRead, where you can start or join conversations about books you love and books you're reading.

If your sister just mentioned a book you want to try, there's the new LendingeBook site which offers Kindle and Nook borrowing and lending. Borrow a book for two weeks and then it goes poof. Or try out your library's collection.

Here's something completely new. You've heard of enhanced eBooks. There's a new iPad app called Subtext that works with books from Google's eBookstore. Subtext lets you discuss the book you're reading - without leaving its pages - with readers, experts, and even the author herself. How cool is that?!

Have you tried any of these? It's been a long week and we're supposed to get snow here in the northeast. All I want is to ditch my To-Do list and curl up by the fire with a great read. Maybe I'll meet you on the pages of The Secret Fan, via Subtext.

Snack Time

A while ago, our Sister in Crime member, Tanya Goodwin, sent us a link to a New York Times Book Review article on “Snacks of Great Scribblers.”

While some of them held no appeal for me, Walt Whitman’s oysters and meat for breakfast for instance, others, like Emily Dickinson’s home baked bread sounded quite yummy.

The author of the article, Wendy MacNaughton, prefers garlic croutons. For me,I’m more on a Truman Capote type schedule, with cookies during the day and a glass of wine in the evening.

What about you? What’s your favorite writing snack?

Visit me at www.cathistoler.com to read an excerpt of my novel, TELLING LIES and check in on my latest news and events.

Tuesday Twosome

I've fallen in love with Elvis. Now you may think I'm foolish, but anyone who's from Tennessee like I am knows we're not really sure The King is dead. While I was living in Nashville, he was spotted at a Burger King and there have been many sightings before and after that.

But the Elvis I'm in love with now inhabits Peggy Webb's delightful mystery series that includes Callie, the intrepid beauty parlor owner, her cousinLovie, the caterer, and a basset hound, who is the reincarnation of Elvis. Frankly, I can't remember when I laughed so much while reading! The beauty of these books is we not only have the fun of following Callie, Lovie, Ruby Nell, Fayrene, and Uncle Charlie during their sleuthing, but we also get homespun advice from Elvis. It's a hoot!

Peggy calls these books "Southern Cousins Mysteries," and I can attest to their authenticity. There are now five books in this series, but Peggy has also written a slew of romance novels, a bunch of blues songs, a whole lot of humor columns and blogs for magazines, and even two screen plays. This woman defines the word writer.

Since it's Tuesday, I'm going to share a quote from Peggy's second Southern Cousins book, Elvis and the Grateful Dead. This book takes place during the annual Elvis Festival in Tupelo, Mississippi, the birthplace of Elvis Aron Presley. The town is filled with Elvis impersonators and fans, and the King (Callie's basset hound) has his own thoughts about the big convention:

If you ask me, all these impersonators running around Tupelo in sequined jumpsuits could use remedial voice lessons. Nobody can hold a candle to the King. That would be me, though these days I could pass through a crowd unnoticed if it weren't for my pink bow tie. I also wanted to wear my black pompadour to the Elvis Festival, but Callie (my human mom) said basset hounds look silly in toupees.

Here's an exchange between Callie and Lovie after their search for a missing Elvis impersonator turns up a dead body:

As [Uncle Charlie] sprints off toward the bus, I untangle my legs from the leash and sit down beside Lovie. "Are you okay?"

"I will be as soon as my stomach gets out of my throat."

"Brian can't be more than thirty. What do you suppose happened to him?"

"Whatever it is, Callie, it's none of our business."

This, of course, means the two of them are soon up to their ears in a murder investigation.

In spite of all my reading, I'm still working on my writing this week. There's not much humor, but I enjoy writing it. This is from Second Nature, the first book in my series. It's a description of a secondary character:

Bernie was Bernadette Murphy Feldman, my dear friend and neighbor, who had been a nurse since World War II. She retired from her husband Ira’s medical practice when he’d died twenty years ago. I suspected she’d said goodbye to eighty several years ago, as well.

An old-school neighbor, she often brought over leftovers when she prepared soup, casseroles, or other items that were better in large quantities.

What have you been reading and writing this week? Care to sit and share a bit?

My Town Monday: NY is for Nyquil (also Comic-Con)

I'm totally lagging, because after being under the weather and coughing through the nights, I took some Nyquil that put me under until almost noon.  Wow!  Good sleep, but now I'm almost living like a nocturnal marsupial.

Anyway, I've got some pix from New York Comic-Con which happened here last weekend.  I also posted about it in detail at Criminal Element, but, for you my pretties, these are bonus photos that didn't appear there:

 You could have your picture taken in the DeLorean from Back to the Future, with a bonus Marty McFly and Doc Brown on hand to pose with you.

They come from different decks, um, inspirations, but I count 6 Jokers in this picture. Someone's cheating!

This is RhinoMan, my new BFF and escort for the rush-hour subways.  Yes, after we've emerged, you can carry me to the office, thanks.

If you're a Doctor Who fan, this is the ultimate beach changing cabana or extra closet for that spare room.  Don't have a spare room?  Just whip out your handy sonic screwdriver and construct one outside the current space time continuum. (or Staten Island).

Tired of those Twilight kids having all the fun?  The heck with fur versus fangs, this rivalry is electric!

See more My Town Monday posts here.  Put yours in the comments here or there, and we'll update both places!

UPDATE: After the unfortunate events in Zanesville last week, Jennette Marie Powell's talking about local Ohio heroes--the folks running a (legal) wild animal sanctuary called Heaven's Corner in West Alexandria.  And, inspired by George Clooney's latest movie, Ides of March, (Evil) Jim Winter's got an interesting list of other movies set in Cincinnati.   Might surprise you!

Headlines: Sense and Silliness

For social networking communities and blogs where I post, I'm studying headlines that include serious key words folks might actually search, and are at the same time quirky enough to encourage click through.

I'm still working on it, but I did come across some great headlines in The Onion that might work if they don't bring you to tears. I'm particularly fond of "Row of Asterisks Spices Up Otherwise Ordinary E-Mail.

• New Anger-Powered Cars May Revolutionize The Way We Drive
• New College Graduates To Be Cryogenically Frozen Until Job Market Improves
• Row Of Asterisks Spices Up Otherwise Ordinary E-Mail
• Company To Get Head Start On Christmas Layoffs This Year
• I Make My Own Hours,' Says Man About To Get Fired
• Follow @OnionSports for a chance to win our new sports book Ecstasy Of Defeat, on sale Oct 11
• Sports Fan Digs Deep, Finds Something To Complain About
• Pep Talk Laced With Personal Threats
• Area Man's Quirky Hobby Kills 27
• Area Man Makes It Through Day
• Brooke Alvarez Tells You How to Look Good for the End of the World

Any favorites here? Any advice for writing the would-be catchy headline?

"From Russia With Lies"

My friend, author Elena Gorokhova, has a wonderfully written piece in today's "Lives" section of the Sunday New York Times, entitled, "From Russia With Lies." She reminisces about how, at age 18, during the summer of 1973, "the Crimean sun, the turquoise sea and Boris's cinnamon tan led me astray into the adult world of vranyo."

To read more about Elena, check out my Women of Mystery interview with Elena. In April 2010, we held a giveaway for a personally signed copy of her memoir, A Mountain of Crumbs (now available in paperback).

Visit Elena's Author page on Facebook.

Follow me on Twitter @katcop13.

If You're Happy and You Know It . . .

Okay, so when the morning allows, I have a morning routine. I get out of bed, take one set of meds, straighten the bedroom, shower, etc and then have a cup of coffee, take my second set of morning meds and check the Morning Coffee post on Criminal Element. From there I go directly to the sites of my hometown newspapers, the New York Post, the Daily News, and The New York Times. Today's news offerings include murder and mayhem as well as President Obama's announcement that United States Troops will be leaving Iraq at the end of the year, an article discussing the differences/similarities between the Occupy Wall Street protesters and the Tea Party protesters. Oh yes, and Walgreens is encouraging pharmacists to come out from behind the counter and counsel patients in the aisles.

Now this is all very important stuff but the article that most struck my fancy is in the New York Times entitled: If You're Happy and You Know It, Must I Know It Too? It seems that emoticons are now appearing in business emails. I find it distracting enough when someone sends me a two line lunch confirmation on "e-stationary" with jovial smiley faces, I can't imagine seeing the little devils (some do have horns) on business correspondence.

What say you?

Terrie

Stop Me Before I Delete Again

The good news is that my manuscript is being prepared for publication. More good news: the editor to whom I’ve been assigned is doing a lovely job flushing out some of my less attractive habits. Who knew I was addicted to gerunds?

I’m happy to make changes—in fact, love to make changes. To tweak, to shift, to slash, to tighten. Pure joy. The problem is that editing for me is like…I don’t know…pistachio gelato. It’s really hard to stop.

I know other writers—and artists and actors and musicians—deal with the same compulsion to Make It Better. I once read that the wonderful British crime writer John Harvey sometimes revises published pages when called upon to do a reading. Willem de Kooning was famous for never considering a canvas finished. Dustin Hoffman is known as a perfectionist who demands take after take to get the scene right.

Here’s my question: As writers, do we ever reach the point at which we’re satisfied, at which we think: This manuscript is as good as it can ever be? Or will we always long for one more bite of the apple?

The Power of Words

Recently, the Board of Directors of our Coop sent out a notice informing us that we would be having a very large one-year assessment to cover work on the building, a permanent maintenance increase to keep up with escalating costs and a fuel surcharge, too--all starting next month.

Working out the numbers meant that on average, each owner’s monthly charges would increase by about 40% for the next 12 months. Needless to say, I was not happy. So, in response to what I considered at best a lack of planning, I wrote a letter to the Board questioning the charges and suggesting a more reasonable and longer-term approach to the situation. Then, I posted a copy on our message board by the mailboxes.

Two days later my husband came home and said, “Have you seen what happened to your letter?” I hadn’t but I went downstairs and took a look.

Another page had been attached to the bottom to make room for the fifty or so owners in the building who read it, commented and signed it. Most of the comments suggested that my letter, brief but to the point, voiced what these folks were feeling. The words struck a cord with them and they responded.

It hadn’t been my intention to start a petition, just to express how I felt the best way I could. It made me think about something I already knew and believed: words have the power to influence and shape feelings, thoughts and events. It made me happier than ever to be a writer.

P.S. We did have a meeting with the Board where they explained the circumstances surrounding all the charges in detail much better than their original notice did. And, while none of us were happy, at least we had a better understanding of why this is necessary.

Visit me at www.cathistoler.com to read an excerpt of my novel, TELLING LIES and check in on my latest news and events.

Tuesday Twosome

Hope you’re reading a good book this week. I haven’t had anything new, so I’ve been reading Dubliners by James Joyce. It’s a collection of short stories that was originally published in 1916. That’s 95 years ago! I wonder if he ever thought that people would be reading his stories in the 21^st century.

They’re an interesting group of stories that cover a variety of life experiences through the eyes of the residents of Dublin. I guess most people would view their lives as mundane, but Joyce saw the mystery in them and wrote these stories after observing life in his hometown.

Here’s one of my favorite passages, which is from a story titled, “A Painful Case,” and is actually a story of love and loss.

Captain Sinico encouraged his visits, thinking that his daughter’s hand was in question. He had dismissed his wife so sincerely from his gallery of pleasures that he did not suspect that anyone else would take an interest in her. As the husband was often away and the daughter out giving music lessons Mr. Duffy had many opportunities of enjoying the lady’s society. Neither he nor she had any such adventure before and neither was conscious of any incongruity. Little by little he entangled his thoughts with hers. He lent her books, provided her with ideas, shared his intellectual life with her. She listened to all.

In the end, Mr. Duffy discontinued his visits with Mrs. Sinico thinking he was doing the right thing but the loss was too much for her to bear, living in a household devoid of love as it were.

Oddly enough, this passage made me think of two characters in the book I’m working on. They are executive and his loyal assistant, who have secretly loved each other for many years. Will their relationship end so glumly? I don’t think so.

Dear Marie. For as long as Hunter and I have been friends, Marie had been as involved in Hunter’s life as his parents. Maybe even more so. She arranged for permission for school trips and scheduled doctor’s appointments, and made sure he was outfitted with the right sports equipment and clothes. Marie was more like a doting aunt than an employee. Long ago, Hunter had believed his father and Marie were romantically involved. I wasn’t sure. But I wouldn’t blame anyone who preferred Marie’s warmth and kindness to Margaret MacRae’s brittleness.

Got some Twosomes you’d like to share? Post them for us!

What Do You Say?

Okay so I have a cold and spent the rainy morning at the doctor, TJMaxx (where I bought very cool rockets that are supposed to fly 50 feet in the air on a fuel of baking soda and vinegar.) and Pathmark. I see the UPS Truck is in front of my building and a neighbor is signing for a box, that I am fairly sure is for me.

As I walk up the steps, she says I am just in time and points to the box, with an expectant look on her face, so I know I am supposed to tell her what is in the box. I say, "Oh, that must be my latest anthology. " She says, "Oh, you wrote another story?" I nod, while struggling to get all my packages to my front door. Then she says, "you'll have to give me one to read." And I said, "GO TO THE LIBRARY AND TAKE ONE OUT."

I mean, really? Does she think I just write for her pleasure? We have been neighbors for more than twenty years. I have given her bookmarks. I never ask anyone to buy my stuff, but I do ask folks to TAKE THE BOOKS OUT OF THE LIBRARY. At least four anthologies containing stories I have written are available through the Queens Borough Public Library, including an audio copy of Crimes By Moonlight. There is a branch a few blocks from our building. Walk down the block.

So, when someone asks to view your work for free, what do you say?

Terrie

Mysteries for Children

Recently I was sent a link to an article about the 9 best mysteries for children. I was pleasantly surprised to see that some of my own favorites are still going strong (like The Eleventh Hour).  Others, like The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) are mysteriously missing.

The book I remember most clearly from childhood was mysterious, though not strictly speaking a mystery.  It is From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

What about you? Any mysteries in your past? What would you buy today for future mystery readers?

Bad Moon Rising by Ed Gorman

Hooray!! Today is the release date of the latest Sam McCain novel, Bad Moon Rising, written by one of my very favorite authors, Ed Gorman. The eight previous Sam McCain novels are pure Americana, vividly describing the atmosphere of the year the story takes place with a murder or two thrown into the mix. And I am delighted to tell you that Bad Moon Rising sharpens our memory of the time and tempo that was 1968. A hippie commune just outside Sam’s hometown of Black River Falls, Iowa is making the locals a bit squeamish even as many of them try to be a little “hip” themselves.

Sam is now ten years older than when we first met him in The Day the Music Died. I am overjoyed that he is managing to keep his law practice and his love life afloat with a minimum of difficulty. But when the troubled daughter of a prominent citizen is found stabbed to death in a barn at the commune, Sam is determined that the solution to the murder is not as simple as everyone seems to think.

The mystery surrounding the murder is inextricably tied to the social and moral upheavals of the day and reminds the reader that the actions and activities going on all around us often swirl together creating an inescapable maelstrom. And as always, Ed Gorman weaves the time, the place and the people together effortlessly.

You may think I talk about Ed’s writing a lot but I don’t think I mention him nearly enough, so I have a few reminders. Long ago I wrote a Forgotten Book Friday post about his high minded western, Vendetta.

And more recently, I shouted from the roof tops that Ed Gorman had formed a website with a group of other highly talented writers with the goal of making their work easily available in e-format. You can read about the Top Suspense Group here.

So if you haven’t read a Sam McCain novel, now is a great time to start. And you don’t need to read them in any particular order. Each one will bring you back to the place and time of its setting while you are puzzling out the murder mystery along with Sam.

Terrie

Tuesday Twosome

I just finished John Sandford’s latest book, Shock Wave, and it was wonderful! His plots are always compelling, intricate, and fascinating. This one was no exception.

The Virgil Flowers series is a spin of Sandford’s wildly popular Lucas Davenport novels, which I’ve also enjoyed through the years.

Lucas, who is Virgil’s boss, sends the good-looking investigator to the small town of Butternut Falls, Minnesota, to discover who’s using bombs to protest the building of the new PyeMart in town. Virgil is soon embroiled in small-town politics, Peyton-Place style relationships, and a real murder mystery. In between dealing with the owner of the PyeMart stores, questioning the tight-mouthed locals, and not knowing when or where the next bomb will go off, Virgil is also dealing with his own complicated relationship with the lady sheriff, Lee Coakley.

In the midst of all this interesting stuff is Sandford’s trademark humor. He writes sharp dialog that makes you laugh out loud in many sections. Instead of sharing some of John’s work and then mine, I’m going to share two sections from Shock Wave that I think you’ll enjoy enough to want to read this great book yourself.

Johnson Johnson, sitting on the next bale over, leaned toward Virgil, his forehead damp with beer sweat, and said, “I’m going for it. She wants me.”

“She does want you,” Virgil agreed. They both looked at one of the bigger women on the sand; she’d been sneaking glances at Johnson. “But you’re gonna be helpless putty in her hands, man. Whatever she wants to do, you’re gonna have to do, or she’ll pull your arms off.”

Maybe I should tell you this scene takes place during a sand volleyball game played not by beach bunnies but robust Minnesota farm girls in plus-sized bikinis.

This next scene occurs at a Butternut Falls town gathering at the local diner. There’s a reference to one of Virgil’s true loves, rock band T-shirts.

Thor the desk clerk idled into the room, wearing cargo shorts and a Third-Eye Blind T-shirt. When Virgil saw it, he said, “God bless me: I will give you one hundred dollars for that T-shirt.”

“I could get three times that on eBay,” Thor said. He had a tooth-pick in one corner of his mouth, and a drink in his hand.

Virgil looked at it and asked, “How old are you again?”

“Eighteen. But I’m a jock, so it’s okay,” Thor said.

What are you reading this week? Want to share a scene with us?

TADA!! My Amazon Author Page

It is widely acknowledged among the Women of Mystery that I am the least interested or aware of all the handy little things I can do on my computer. I want to: write stories, do research for my stories, check email and Facebook and, most fun ever, blog here and over at Criminal Element.

So when our Laura suggested that I open an author page on Amazon, my first thought was, "No! No! Technical stuff! No can do! No WANT to do! But as the editor of our brand spanking new chapter anthology, Murder New York Style:Fresh Slices, I know it is important for us to have a presence everywhere we can and folks are always talking about Amazon author pages, so after a bit of whining, I followed the Amazon Author Central link that Laura sent me.

I put in my picture and my bio and in seconds Amazon had linked three anthologies that contain my stories. and I was told to "click here" if I had books for sale on Amazon and they weren't listed. I followed the prompts and within a few hours a nice young woman named Mary wrote back to confirm that I did indeed have a story in Crimes By Moonlight and in the first Murder New York Style and that they would be linked to my author page in the next few days.

Easy as pie! (Although I never have mastered baking a decent pie crust.) So, without further ado, I bring you the Amazon author page of Terrie Farley Moran.

If you don't have an Amazon Author page, set one up today. It is too easy not to take advantage of free publicity for you and your work.

As for me, in my next techie project, I am going to be working with our Lois to put some of my stories on Kindle.

It seems that there is nothing the Women of Mystery can't do.

Terrie

Slpopyp Edditnig?

In a recent post at Crime Fiction Collective, Kimberly Hitchens reports that Amazon removed a book from sale after a reader complained about the number of errors found in the text. This wasn’t a self-published book, by the way. It came from a major house. In another case, Amazon pulled a book after a complaint that it was unreadable. According to Hitchens, who runs an e-book production service company, the perceived errors in this book were actually the author’s stylistic choices.

Some people who commented on the post supported Amazon’s decision to pull sloppily edited books. Others raised the concern that Amazon’s “editing” might verge on censorship if stylistic choices come under attack. Comments by a surprisingly large number of people suggested that it’s foolish to expect perfection when it comes to editing. One individual went so far as to suggest that Amazon post a disclaimer along the lines of: Nobody’s perfect.

I understand that even with careful editing, errors occur. As a writer that means I’ve got to be more vigilant. But lower expectations? Not an option, in my opinion.

Your thoughts?

What's Your Theme?

image from Peter Greenberg.com

I cry at the drop of the hat. I cry when I am sad, when I am angry, when I am frustrated...you get the idea. I even cry at the bloody Folgers Christmas commercial. See that kid at the left? That's pretty much a perfect image of my reaction to many things.

But in particular, when I am reading, the thing that touches off the tears is anything that has to do with family. And yet, I love family books. Family secrets? Yes, please.  Complicated family revenge stories? Definitely. Multi-generational feuds? Abso-freaking-lutely.

Even in romances, where most people weep at the scenes between the hero and heroine, I am much more apt to drip over the pages where you learn about their dreadful past family events or relationships, or when they're reunited with lost family members.

I tend to write about family issues, too. My WIP is about a woman who's looking for her mother's killer. She never knew her father, so her relationship with her mother, while problematic, was very important to her. My next is about a woman who leaves her family behind intentionally, even discarding her name, because of how dreadful they are.

A character's relationship to the people biology saddles him/her with is apparently a major theme of interest for me.

When you look at your reading, your reactions to it, and your writing, can you see a theme or two that appeal to you?

Freebie Table

"Police: Prostitutes hold pooch for payment"

That nicely alliterative headline ran on the front page of the Cape Cod Times on September 30th. It confirmed my feeling that there’s no point in inventing plots for crime fiction when newspapers offer more inspiration on a daily basis than any writer could use in a lifetime.

Here's the story:
A man invited two "escort service" employees, whom he’d contacted through an online agency, to the home he shares with his eighty-four year old mother. In lieu of paying the women for their services--presumably delivered after mom was tucked up for the night--he gave them his mother’s Yorkshire terrier. Later, the man contacted the women, who first demanded $1000, then $2500, for the dog’s return. The police, according to the paper, haven't been able to find the women or the dog.

After you’ve written the book and it’s been optioned by the Coen brothers, may I suggest the following casting: Olympia Dukakis as the very tough mother, Gwyneth Paltrow and Amy Adams playing against type as the hookers, and Steve Buscemi as the idiot son. Can you see Olympia going after Steve when she wakes up and finds the dog gone?

What do you think? Anyone tempted?
Does anyone else peruse newspapers for inspiration?

Tuesday Twosome

I enjoy reading Tess Gerritsen. With her background as a physician, she takes readers into the world of murder and deceit in startling ways. I especially enjoyed the horror of her first book, Harvest, and the maniacal twist of the series she did featuring her truly frightening character, The Surgeon.

I recently read The Silent Girl, her latest book, and it was a compelling, fast-paced story that surprised me to the end. I loved the look into the Asian mystical characters and the clever way she brought out these ancient stories in the lives of her contemporary characters. In her acknowledgments, she attributes the elements of the story to the tales shared by her mother, who grew up in China. Whatever the source, this is a fascinating story and I highly recommend it.
Here are the sentences from The Silent Girl:

Scatter the clouds and see the sun.
I sniff and know at once that the intruder has been in this room, has left the scent of aggression. The air is foul with the smell, and for a few heartbeats I cannot bring myself to advance and meet the enemy. I hear Detective Frost come running up the stairs. He defends my back, but it's what waits ahead that terrifies me.

Here's a selection from what I'm working on this week:

“Come here,” he said, and the younger officer did his bidding without question.
Zoe and Hunter didn’t move as Evan placed his other hand on the younger man’s shoulder.
“This is a misunderstanding,” he said quietly.
“This is a misunderstanding,” repeated the senior officer.
Evan looked into the eyes of the other man. “There are no problems here.”
“There are no problems here,” the younger man said.

What are you reading and writing? Share some sentences with us!

When Do You Write?

Since the sudden death of my 40-year-old sister-in-law (my brother's widow) in July, I stopped writing. My focus became my nephew, an orphan at age ten, and of course my family, who all like to eat, wear clean clothes and live in a clean house, and need to be taken to appointments, see friends, that kind of thing.

Dealing with grief, taking care of my nephew (whom I've watched since he was three months old, when my sister-in-law returned to work; two months later, when my 37-year-old brother was killed in a motorcycle accident four days before his fifth wedding anniversary, I offered to watch my nephew once a month or more for overnight visits to give the suddenly single parent/widow a break, and a chance for my nephew to know the love of his father's family ~ a routine we maintained for ten years. Her last email, written a few hours before her death, was a request to watch my nephew on certain dates in July and August). In August, I became a temporary co-guardian of my nephew.

I must find/make the time to write.

So I turn to my fellow blogmates, faithful readers of Women of Mystery, and visitors (welcome, BTW) and ask: When do you write? Do you carve out time? Do you schedule it? Do you leave your home? Do you write when you find a few minutes here and there?

I was writing when I got the news that my sister-in-law died of a suspected massive heart attack, and haven't written since, not counting a few blog posts.

It was "easier" when my teens were busy doing homework, on their own computers or playing video games, or out with friends. I'd write early in the morning, and very late at night when everyone was sleeping. Sometimes I'd escape to the library or a coffee shop, to avoid the distraction of the phone, the laundry piling up, the cleaning that needed to be done, etc. I'd feel obligated to do all those things first before I attempted to write (yes, I'm Catholic, guilt included), and of course, I'd run out of time to write...

I like the advice of Brian Clark ("Ten Steps to Becoming a Better Writer) on Copyblogger.

But, I turn to you, dear friends. How do you do it when life demands so much?

How Are You Feeling About Ebooks Today?

As I've mentioned before, I'm interested in ebooks and ereaders and how they're changing the world of publishing and reading. So today I thought I would see where you stand at the moment. With Amazon's new releases making eReaders super cheap (the basic Kindle is now $79) and with a number of publishers both small and large creating all-digital lines, the landscape is changing. We don't know what it will look like a few years from now, but it's interesting to keep watch!

Do You Have An E-reader?

What do you (would you) read on an ereade?r