The Kindle

/in /by

Yes, I broke down and bought a Kindle. I love it.

Frankly, I didn’t buy it merely to read books. My main purpose was to have something to demonstrate while I gave talks on e-publishing. I’ve been doing that for a long time, and I had two such presentations lined up in a row. I was on a panel at the California Crime Writers Conference in Pasadena and doing a talk on e-publishing for the Public Safety Writers Association’s Conference last weekend.

I downloaded Gary Phillips latest book on the Kindle because he was the moderator for the first panel. He’d never seen a Kindle so obviously not his book on one either. He was tickled.

I also purchased a couple of my own books on Kindle to see what they looked like: No Sanctuary and an old romance, Lingering Spirit.

The Kindle is great, easy to figure out and nice to read on.

The one drawback is it is far too easy to buy books. I have about six on there now. I’m saving them for when I go on a trip and that’s all I have to take with me.

Because, I have a huge stack of regular books to read. I got three books from a publisher to read and review–and they are really big and rather literary, so they’ll take awhile. Then, while I was at the PSWA conference I bought way too many books. When the author is there and talks about his or her book, I can’t control myself. Oh, and that brings me around to one more drawback about the Kindle–you can’t get the author to sign them.

Most of the big publishers haven’t figured out yet that you shouldn’t charge so much for books. E-publishers who have been around for a long time, know that the cost should be low if they expect to sell a lot of books. All of my publishers are putting their books on Kindle as well as all the other e-book sites. Yes, there are lots of ways to read an e-book–iPhones, iPods, Sony E-Reader and others, Kindle is not the only one.

Over the years I’ve had several e-readers, but you had to connect to your computer to buy a book. The Kindle is magic–you can order the book through Amazon’s Internet site if you want, but you can just as easily go to the book store on the Kindle and order. In 20 seconds the books is there.

And that’s what I have to say about my new Kindle.

Marilyn a.k.a. F. M. Meredith

On the Road

/in /by

I’m on my Southern Book Tour. I’ve heard about the promotional travels that F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway would take. In those days, authors would move from city to city, stay at the poshest hotels, eat five-course meals, drink to the wee hours, all at the publisher’s expense, and then give thought-provoking readings of their newest works to rooms full of fans, rapt with wonder at the pearls being shared with them.

Today you’re at Motel Six with a free breakfast buffet of donuts and coffee, all on your own dime. Or more likely, you’re sitting at your desk in your pajamas and it’s a virtual book tour where you move from blog to blog.

There’s something reassuring to know that whether you’re on The New York Times best-seller list or still struggling to make a name for yourself, book tours are the great equalizer. Check out the fun web site, http://booktour.com/stories. Jack Getze, author of the Austin Carr mystery series, recalled a conversation he had with award-winning Robert Crais, creator of the Elvis Cole mysteries. Crais told how he recently arrived at a bookstore for a long-scheduled event, only to find the place empty and none of the sales staff aware of who he was. “When I found the manager, he offered me a job application.”

And yet, whether’s it a four-star hotel or the Holiday Inn, what makes these outings worth it are the mystery fans you meet along the way. That’s the big payoff. They love the genre and I often get fantastic suggestions for new writers to read. Of course, some of these meetings are the fodder for future book scenes. For example, I ask people in the audience to name their favorite authors. One woman detailed a lengthy list and then explained that that she used to read a certain famous writer, but had stopped because the newer books had “gotten too dark.” I agreed and laughed that I didn’t need to read books to get depressed. The woman nodded and added, “I’m on Prozac and I don’t want to do anything to counteract that!”

And then there are the mega-buck payoffs (and that’s a figure of speech rather than any actual dollars). One woman told the Southern half of Evelyn David that she had never read a book for fun until she picked up our first mystery, Murder Off the Books. Reading our sequel, Murder Takes the Cake, would then be her second book finished. The idea that we might be part of the reason someone becomes a reader — now that’s the stuff of book tours.

Here are the details of the rest of my travels. I’m bringing chocolate to all events!:

June 29, 7 pm
Middleburg Library
101 Reed Street
Middleburg, VA

June 30, Noon
Dorchester County Library
303 Gay Street
Cambridge, MD

July 1, Noon
Mystery Loves Company Bookstore
202 S. Morris Street
Oxford, MD

July 1, 7 pm
Delmar Public Library
101 N. Bi-State Boulevard
Delmar, DE

Hope to see you on the road!

Evelyn David

Thanks, but No Thanks

/in /by

Toni Andrews is the author of the Mercy Hollings series. Her newest book, Cry Mercy, was published this month by Mira.

No offense.

I don’t want to write your story.

If you’ve seen the tale on my website, you know that I came to writing late in life. The blush has far from worn off—I’m still thrilled every time I get fan mail or someone comes up to me at a book store and says “I love your novels.” I still take my books down from the shelf and run my fingers over the smooth covers and sniff the binders.

I live in Connecticut. Those of you who are from other parts of the world may be picturing rolling lawns and stately homes full of people with PhDs sipping white Merlot. Yes, those places exist in Connecticut. But where I live, it’s a firmly blue-collar area. Local restaurants serve chicken wings and pizza and not much else. Red Sox vs. Yankees arguments are more common than literary discussions.

Don’t get me wrong—I love it here. But when I go down to the local bar and grill and someone finds out that I write books for a living, I often get one of three reactions:

Disbelief (Yes, but what do you really do?).

Shock and awe, followed by an admission of not having read a book since high school.

A sudden, feverish look in the eyes, followed by a request for my business card.

It’s the third one I have to watch out for. I’ve learned to ask, with as much subtlety as possible, why they want it. Because, often as not, it’s because they have a book idea for me.

These fall into two categories (I love lists. Can you tell?):

He, his uncle, or his next door neighbor has such an amazing personal story that if I will just write it down, the book will be a GUARANTEED NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Sorry to shout. It’s just that they always use those exact words. Always.

He himself has an idea that’s a GUARANTEED NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER but he doesn’t have the skill or patience to write it, and he wants me to “help” him.

Occasionally there’s a third option, particularly if the venue is a bar and even more particularly if the party concerned has got what my Uncle Avery used to refer to as “a snoot-full.” This is the person who proceeds to drunkenly spew out said GUARANTEED NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER’s plot, and then becomes paranoid that I am going to run home, write it down, send it in, and become a gazillionaire.

Like most writers I know, I have folders and folders, both real and virtual, full of my own book ideas. I’ve written them on the backs of envelopes I found under the seat of my car, in the margins of magazine pages ripped from ancient copies moldering in waiting rooms and in countless notebooks.

I’ll never get the chance to write all these books, even if I live to be 150. Because I’ll always be getting more ideas.

If you have a book idea that’s a GUA (I stopped myself this time.) just dying to be written, then I think you should write it yourself. And I’m not being snotty here—I mean it.

It’s not as hard to write a book as you think. After all, I did it.

Walk into a big bookstore and take a look around. Some human being wrote every one of those books. They weren’t all (trust me on this one) geniuses. And you don’t have to reinvent the wheel – you can stroll over to the writing section of that store and find books that will tell you how to structure a plot, create believable characters, write sparkling dialogue, and even how to get it published afterward.

Hey, I know. I credit my published status to the first book I picked up when I made the decision to write my story down: Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies by Leslie Wainger, a book I highly recommend.

So, sorry, I don’t want to write your book—not because it wouldn’t be amazing. It’s just that I’m busy working on my own. As for your book:

Write it.

I mean it.

Start today.

Toni Andrews

Toni’s web site: http://toniandrews.com/
Where to send your Self Addressed Stamped Envelope to get a signed book plate for your copy: http://toniandrews.com/CryMercyTour.htm
Toni’s Blog: http://tinyurl.com/ToniBlog
Toni’s TV show: http://toniandrews.com/SoManyBooks.htm
Cry Mercy Trailer: http://tinyurl.com/75vl4s
Book Rx, Toni’s “Book Doctor” service: http://toniandrews.com/BookRx.htm

Another Chapter in the Susan Story

/in /by

By Julie Kramer

My debut, STALKING SUSAN, came out this week in paperback and now seems a good time to tell folks about the latest developments in the cases of the real Susans that inspired my thriller.

As a journalist, I covered two cold cases in St. Paul, MN more than a decade ago that involved the murders of Susan Ginger Petersen (strangled May 17, 1983) and Susan Jean Rheineck (strangled May 17, 1985.)

As a novelist, I created the tale of a serial killer targeting women named Susan and killing one on the same day each year. Twenty-five years later, those homicides remain unsolved, but St. Paul Police recently announced they are one step closer.

Last summer publicity about STALKING SUSAN – every time I did an interview I mentioned the victim’s names – got the attention of the St. Paul Cold Case Unit. Like one of the plot lines in my novel, they were able to use new forensics on the old evidence to extract DNA. Their conclusion: The women had separate killers.

So while there were parallels in their homicides, including that the women disappeared from the same poor neighborhood and their bodies were dumped in the same affluent neighborhood, the murders are unconnected. A serial killer is not behind their deaths. But two killers have gotten away with murder for more than a quarter of a century. And that’s just as disturbing.

So far, authorities have been unable to match the DNA to any convict in the felon data base, but just having DNA makes it more likely that suspects will be identified and arrests will be made.

When I wrote my novel, I changed the city, the time of year, the women’s last names…but I wanted to keep something of them in it. So I kept the name Susan. Because name origination becomes part of my plot, had I named them Mary, it would have been an entirely different story.

Sometimes people ask what the families of the real victims think about me bringing all this up after so many years. They imply that perhaps I’ve shattered their peace. But I’ve spoken to the families and they have no peace. They don’t mind if some author wants to keep reminding people to call the police tip line. They still want answers about what happened to their Susans on the night May 17 so long ago. And I’m starting to think, they just might get them.

What do you think of mysteries and thrillers ripped from the headlines? Do you have a favorite?

—–

STALKING SUSAN won Best First Mystery at the RT Reviewers Choice Awards, as well as the Minnesota Book Award for genre fiction. It was also a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award, and is a nominee for Best First Novel for both the Anthony and Barry Awards, to be announced at Bouchercon in Indianapolis. Her sequel, MISSING MARK, will be released July 14 by Doubleday.

For more about the author, check juliekramerbooks.com

Don’t You Die on Me, High-Speed Internet Access!

/in /by

I often make fun of my kids who have complete meltdowns when one of their gadgets go dead like the iPod, the Wii, the X-box, the Sims game on the computer. I usually start with, “when I was your age, we didn’t even know what computers were!” or something equally unimpressive to their young, technologically-savvy ears. So, it was with great interest that I have been judging my reaction to an email I received two weeks ago yesterday, in which a man—I’ll identify him as Greg (not his real name)—wrote to a group of local dsl users with his company—I’ll call it ZT&T (not its real name)—that ZT&T was dropping all of them as customers. No explanation as to why, but uninterrupted service was promised, despite the fact that service would be suspended within forty-eight hours. Not long enough to get another service, but just short enough to send the names on Greg’s email list (which were revealed, not hidden), enough time to panic. I recognized two of my friends on the list.

I’ve identified the five stages of grieving for your internet service. Here they are:

1. Fear: Who was Greg? Did he really work for ZT&T? Why did he reveal the entire email list to all of the other affected customers? Was he phishing? To counteract the fear, I called ZT&T and reached India. The man in India assured me that Greg was real, he did work for ZT&T, and yes, he was dropping me as a dsl customer in less than forty-eight hours. He bid me adieu and wishes for a nice day. I told the man in India that not only was I beyond annoyed, I was dropping ZT&T as my local and long distance carrier. He was unimpressed.

2. Frustration: I called Greg; he had left a phone number which I assumed went back to India where I would get the desk of the guy sitting next to the first guy I spoke to. When Greg picked up his phone, I was amazed. He let me rant and then told me that service would be uninterrupted; they were selling us, en masse, to another local carrier we’ll call Berizon. Yes, yes, yes, Greg intoned, there would be no interruption of my dsl service. I reiterated that I ran a business from my home that was dependent on high-speed internet access; in his monotone, he GUARANTEED that I would have service on Thursday when I awoke. I did—it just went out after lunch. Technically, he did not lie.

3. Anger: My emails to Greg, which in the beginning ended with “have a nice day” or “thank you for your help” descended into “you’d better resolve this before I bring Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General of New York State, and all the wrath he wrought down on your pathetic tuchis.” Before long. Greg, too, was unimpressed. (Sense the theme here?) He assured me that I was first on the list for reconnection and would have email by Monday, the 15th at the latest. Later that day, I received a packet in the mail from Berizon with my installation disk saying that I would have service a week from Saturday, June 26th. I called Greg back, but he didn’t pick up his phone this time; an away message on his email indicated that he had gone on vacation (I’m not making this up). He instructed us to call someone else. But I’m so dang tired of this whole thing that the thought of explaining who I am, why I’m angry, and how desperately I need high-speed internet service made me think twice about calling this new person. Something tells me Greg didn’t fill the new guy in on the hordes of angry customers in our Village.

4. Denial: “This isn’t really happening,” I would intone as I waited for my dial-up service to connect. Hours later, while still waiting, I would still be in my fugue state, rocking back and forth in my chair, saying the same thing. Every try to download a pdf on dial-up service? It takes four days. Eventually, I did download the complaint form from the Attorney General’s office, but since it took so long, the bottom was cut off and I have to start again.

5. Acceptance: I will have dial-up forever. I will never work again. It’s okay. Lots of people live with dial-up. Lots of people have productive lives. High-speed internet isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Just as I got to this point, the doorbell rang. When I opened it and took in the smiling face of the Berizon technician, his shiny truck at my curb, I nearly jumped into his arms. “Berizon man! I am so happy to see you!” I screamed, clapping my hands together; I held back from hugging him. He took a step back from the doorway and slowly made his way down the front steps, fear etched on his kind face.

“Nobody is ever that happy to see me,” he said, regarding me warily. “They usually want to wring my neck.”

I checked his name tag. His name was Dave. Not Greg. And he worked for Berizon, not ZT&T. In my book, this guy was okay. He helped me call up my web page and helped me get a wireless connection. Never will I make fun of my kids again. Now that we have the technology, let’s all use it!

Maggie Barbieri

PSWA Conference

/in /by

We just arrived home from the Public Safety Writers Association conference held in Las Vegas. I don’t have my notes out yet, or even unpacked. Since it’s my day to post, I’ll give some of my general impressions.

I was the program chair so I was pretty nervous as things began. I helped out with registration and managed to arrive before anyone else. Most of those registered came to the get-acquainted social on Thursday evening. It was delightful to see so many new faces and the our faithful attendees too.

Of course I was the first to show up at the meeting room, added a front table and chairs for the panel and got hubby situated at the book selling table.

Only going to give the highlights this time. The first panel was police officers and a prosecuting attorney telling us what drives them crazy in books, TV shows and movies. Most enlightening and a bit funny too.

Award winning author Betty Webb did an excellent job telling what needs to be in a manuscript–and what shouldn’t be–if you want to be published. She also did a bang-up job as one of the luncheon speakers telling about switching from hard-boiled to a lighter series.

We had two forensic experts, Steve Scarborough who told us what CSI people can’t do and the equipment they don’t have despite what we see on TV–and Sheila Lowe, forensic handwriting expert, who fascinated us with handwriting from real cases.

There was so much more, so many people shared, we learned about character development, planning your time for writing, the importance of setting–too much and too little, and so much more. We had a wonderful time learning about writing comedy. Sunny Frazier told us about turning fact into fiction, we had a panel on promo and Joyce Spizer-Foy fascinated us with her knowledge about writing screen plays.

My contribution was talking about e-publishing and showing off my new Kindle.

The hotel was wonderful (except for the people on the 5th, 6th and 7th floor who had their sleep interrupted by an alarm and had to walk all the way downstairs until the problem was solved), food delicious, everyone so friendly, and I finally began to relax when I saw everyone was having a good time and the program was moving along as it should.

Yes, there were a couple of blips, but nothing that couldn’t be handled.

I’m exhausted, but extremely pleased.

Anyone writing about mystery with any ties to public safety is welcome–actually we had other authors there who just wanted to come–think about it for next year. Don’t have any dates yet, but you know I’ll let you know.

Marilyn a.k.a. F.M. Meredith
http://policewriter.com

Can I Have Some Cheese with that Whine?

/in /by

The collective Evelyn David agreed to write a short story for Tony Burton’s holiday anthology (http://www.wolfmont.com), A Gift for Murder. All profits benefit Toys for Tots. Doing a mitzvah (good deed) AND seeing another story in print – a win-win for all.

But writing is hard, and writing short stories is even harder (commence high pitch whine).

Tony has set a limit of 4,000 words per story. So far we’ve written 2,000 and barely killed anybody, let alone introduced any suspects. We have no room for herrings, let alone red ones.

Writing short is supposed to teach you discipline. You learn to find the single exact word to describe someone, rather than an orgy of adjectives. You spark the reader’s imagination so she fills in the blanks of the bare bones scenes you are creating.

Do you remember those summer reading lists in high school? Was it just me who immediately glommed on to The Pearl by John Steinbeck? I am embarrassed to report that I have no memory of the story other than it was 96 pages. But I now realize the incredible genius of Steinbeck that he could tell such a poignant story in so few words.

So we will soldier on, determined to build a whodunnit that will confound and delight readers in under 4000 words…and I will probably whine my way through the process. Do you think Steinbeck also was a whiner?

In the meantime, I’m also getting ready for my Southern Tour. Saturday at Deadly Ink in New Jersey; Sunday at Barnes and Noble in Manassas, Virginia; Monday at Middleburg Library, Virginia; Tuesday at Cambridge Library, Maryland; Wednesday at Mystery Loves Company Bookstore in Oxford, Maryland; and Wednesday night at Delmar Library, Delaware. See Evelyn David’s website for details, http://www.evelyndavid.com/.

Evelyn David

The Apology

/in /by

I’ve been thinking about all the public apologies that celebrities, politicians, sports stars, comedians, and religious leaders feel the need to make. My sense of it is that they all apologize for the wrong thing. They should be apologizing for wasting my time with their carefully worded, audience tested, attempts to save or rehabilitate their reputations.

They are not really sorry.

They may be sorry they got caught.

Or they may be sorry that a careless or stupid statement on their part was spun by the press or the supposed injured party into something it wasn’t.

Innocent or guilty a public apology is demanded – by the media.

Take illegal drugs, lie about it, get caught – apologize to the public.

Cheat on your spouse, lie about it, get caught – apologize to the public.

Bilk millions from your supporters in the name of God, lie about what you used the money for, get caught – apologize to the public. (Religious leaders must add tears to the performance. That’s a deal breaker. No tears, forget the whole thing.)

Sometime in the last 30 years or so, the public apology came into vogue with no signs of going the way of poodle skirts. Am I the only one who thinks apologies should be private? Am I the only one who thinks that when the media repeats an idiotic remark to millions, when the original statement was only heard by a handful of people, the media shouldn’t be the ones to ask for an apology for all the millions that were offended by the remark?

It seems now that even if you say exactly what you mean, and what you say is the truth, the media falls all over themselves trying to find a reason that you should apologize to those people who were offended by what they thought you might have “meant” to say instead of what you said. Are you still with me? Crazy isn’t it. Leon Panetta, hold firm. Don’t do it. Don’t apologize for something you didn’t say. You might have been thinking the thing they want you to apologize for, but you didn’t say it.

As I’m writing this blog another politician appears on CNN to apologize for having an extramarital affair. No lie. Just happened. People, listen to me! I don’t care. He should apologize to his wife, not the nation. And no, I don’t want to see his poor wife standing by his side during the apology.

Right after the politician story? A racist email story. The email was bad. It was in poor taste. (No, I won’t describe it.) It was originally seen by a limited number of people in one state. Now it’s been seen by millions. The talking heads want the author of the email fired (she works for a state legislator). The state legislator had to defend following employment rules and just giving the woman a written reprimand. I expect any minute to see the email’s author in front of a camera giving a public apology.

The next story concerned Iran. You know – the election. The crazy guy who wants nuclear weapons? Hey, he stole an election and he isn’t apologizing for anything.

Let’s see –

The news in order of importance –

Apology for something that wasn’t said.

Apology for a bad joke.

Apology for an affair.

Apology for having someone on staff who sent a racist, private email not using public computers, or on public time.

A political crisis in Iran that might mean the overthrow of the government.

I’m sorry, but this is crazy.

Actually I’m not sorry.

It’s not my fault and I’m not going to apologize for this crazy, mixed up world.

Evelyn David
http://www.evelyndavid.com/

P.S. Evelyn David will be signing Murder Takes the Cake and Murder Off the Books, this Saturday, June 20, from 10-2, at Petco, 4915 E. 41st Street, Tulsa. Hope you can join me!

Deep Thoughts

/in /by

Today’s one of those days where I’m all over the map, so I thought I would do a round-up (see #1 and #2) on some topics that I’ve written about previously and let you know about some promotional gigs that Evelyn David and I will be doing and how they’re going. I hope you’ll indulge me this meandering post.

1. Youth Lacrosse: On Saturday, our kids got beaten up so badly—and I don’t mean that euphemistically—that Coach called the game midway through the third quarter. He decided that our kids didn’t need to be taking sticks to the face, ribs, and legs all in the name of winning a game in the third and fourth grade league. Just wasn’t worth it. Thanks, Coach. And thanks for your email on Sunday, apologizing for calling the game; as you saw from every response you got, we’re all behind you. We just don’t care that much about winning. We care more that our kids can get to middle school with all of their teeth and bones intact.

Fortunately, Sunday was a new day and the team played their last game. I am proud to report that it was played clean, with everyone surviving the nine to three loss with their teeth, bones, and pride intact. Child #2 was thrilled with the fact that he scored the last goal of the season, which by all accounts, was a beaut, complete with NOT ONE, BUT TWO spin moves. Kid is thrilled with himself.

2. Chick Lit: I’ve been thinking about this classification for a while now, wondering whether or not I like the sound of it, especially as it relates to the Murder 101 series. I am big fan of chick lit, and will read anything by the biggies in the niche—Jennifer Weiner comes to mind immediately but I am sure I can think of more. And regardless of whether or not it falls into this category, I’m ordering fellow Stiletto ganger Susan McBride’s Cougar Club as soon as I can because it looks like a complete hoot and I am hoping that I’ll be done with book #5 at that point and can relax. (Yeah, sure.)

A friend was kind enough to drop off an article from the NY Times this past week in which a character in a book being reviewed remarks that if Updike was a woman writing today, they would have slapped a pink cover on the Rabbit series because after all, they’re about relationships, right? Good point. The writer goes on to say that you can tell a chick lit book by its cover. How? Well, if it’s got shoes, a martini glass, even an Adirondack chair, you’ll know that it’s a book for you, if you’re a fan. I don’t know what the writer would say about books that include blood-splattered writing pads (see Final Exam, the fourth installment in the Murder 101 series); I’m hoping that is the mark of an excellent mystery.

Oh! And I almost forgot! My friend, Sheila Curran’s, publishes her second book today and I’ve read it. It’s fabulous. It’s called Everybody She Loved and you will not be disappointed.

3. Book Signings: The Northern half of Evelyn David and I had a book signing this weekend at a great bookstore in her town called Anderson’s. We’re currently on the “Cupcakes and Corpses” tour. Evelyn, as is her way, baked all of her own goodies and brought them, beautifully displayed on a tray. I bought three dozen red velvet cupcakes from a friend with a baking business because as I said repeatedly (I love when a joke works), “If I had made the cupcakes, we would actually have some corpses around here.” So thank you to Anderson’s, Evelyn for setting up the gig, Susan for baking my cupcakes and making me look so good, and everyone who came to support us (most of all!). We sold a good number of books, had a great time, and met wonderful people. And any day that I get to spend time with Evelyn David is a good day in my book, so it was a success all around. The next stop on the tour is the Village Bookstore in Pleasantville on Saturday, June 20, from 1-3. Once again, I will be bringing Susan’s cupcakes and you don’t want to miss that!

I think that’s it for today. I hope all of our readers are enjoying spring; we here on the East Coast are wetter than we’ve ever been. Seriously. Enough, Mother Nature. We hear you.

Maggie Barbieri

For Goodness Sakes, It’s My Turn

/in /by

I didn’t really forget this was my day to blog. I have it on my calendar, but for some reason I thought I’d already done it and posted it to appear today. Obviously that’s not what happened.

So, here I am, late and apologetic.

Because I haven’t planned, I have no idea what to write about. I’ve been really busy lately, planning for the Public Safety Writers Association conference which I’m leaving for tomorrow. I’m the program chairman so I’m excited and a tad nervous.

PSWA’s conferences have been small, partly due to the fact that it had to be reorganized for reasons I don’t need to go into. Last year we had 15 people in attendance. I can assure everyone that the small number made absolutely no difference, we had great speakers and a tremendous amount of fun. We’ve doubled the number plus three this year. Our speakers are fantastic, everyone who wanted to is on a panel. People are coming from as far away as New York and Florida. The good thing about Las Vegas where the conference is held, it’s easy for everyone to get there and airfares are reasonable.

A plus for me is my sis lives in Vegas as does her entire family–four kids, a bunch of grandkids and greats. We’ll spend our first evening and night and morning with her, then onto the conference. Oh did I tell you, I also do the registration, so I have to arrive at the hotel fairly early.

Before I leave, I hope to add some to my w-i-p, which is another Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel. I’m at the most exciting part, so it’s fun writing except I have to make myself slow down. It’s in my head and I can’t wait to put it into the computer.

Anyway, that’s what distracted me from doing my blog as I was supposed to.

Marilyn
a.k.a. F. M. Meredith