Mind Over Murder

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By Evelyn David

Frank Herbert, the science fiction author, once said,
“Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The
sleeper must awaken.” 

While the two halves of Evelyn David aren’t moving into
writing sci-fi, we did make a conscious decision to try, for our newest
project, something entirely different. It’s not that we don’t love Mac Sullivan
and gang, and adore Brianna Sullivan and her whole crew in Lottawatah. And of
course, we are positively cuckoo crazy about Whiskey and Leon, our
canine stars. 

We even started a new Mac-Rachel story, and we’ll get back
to it, but about a third of the way through we hit the proverbial brick wall.
The Southern half sent the Northern half, the first two chapters of a book we’d
begun a few years ago. Bingo! We started writing, like a house on fire (or in
this case, two houses afire). The scenes unfolded so fast that we could barely
keep up. 

New characters, new setting. What has stayed the same is our
love affair with mysteries – and this one is a doozy. MIND OVER MURDER will
thrill you, chill you, delight you. As always, there’s a healthy dollop of
humor, because, well, that’s us. There’s also a terrific romance because we’re
suckers for a good love story. 

Nothing bad ever happens in Seamont, New York,
a quiet village 20 miles outside The Big Apple. Nothing, except for the brutal
murders five years earlier of Lee and Vera Chang. But the local police made a
quick arrest and life returned to suburban normal in Seamont. Except Valentine
Zalmanzig Cohen knows differently. She knows, without a shadow of doubt, that Alex
Fletcher, the man sentenced to life in prison, didn’t kill the Changs. Val is a
psychic. But the local cops don’t want anything to mess up their slam-dunk
case. 

Five years later, when the Bermans, a middle-aged couple who
had just bought the Chang house are also brutally murdered, the police come
knocking at Val’s door. Is it a copycat killer? Has Fletcher hired a hit man to
mimic the crime so he can appeal his own conviction? Or is there a serial murderer
loose in quiet Seamont?  

Val doesn’t want to relive the gruesome murder scenes that
cloud her mind, but she wants to stop this killer once and for all. Things go
from bad to worse after a brutal attempt on her life results in the loss of her
psychic abilities. Val discovers that when all is said and done, she has to
rely on her wits to save herself before the killer strikes again.  

Evelyn David and Valentine Zalmanzig Cohen invite you to find
out whodunnit and why in this
spine-tingling, roller coaster of a ride, new mystery. 

MIND OVER MURDER will be available for sale in late June.
Thanks for all your continuing support and encouragement. You make it possible
for us to take on new challenges. 

Marian and Rhonda, the collective Evelyn David
—————

Evelyn David’s Mysteries 

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries – e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Lottawatah Twister – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Missing in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Good Grief in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Summer Lightning in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Lottawatah Fireworks – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Leaving Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

The Ghosts of Lottawatah – trade paperback collection of the Brianna e-books
Book 1 – I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries (includes the first four Brianna e-books)
Book 2 – A Haunting in Lottawatah (includes the 5th, 6th, and 7th Brianna e-books)
Book 3 – Lottawatah Fireworks (includes the 8th, 9th, and 10th Brianna e-books)
Book 4 – Leaving Lottawatah (includes the 11th Brianna e-book and some special features.)

Sullivan Investigations Mystery series
Murder Off the Books Kindle – Nook – Smashwords – Trade Paperback
Murder Takes the Cake Kindle – Nook – Smashwords – Trade Paperback 
Murder Doubles Back Kindle – Nook – Smashwords – Trade Paperback
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Moonlighting at the Mall (short story) – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords


EVELYN DAVID AUDIOBOOKS 

I TRY NOT TO DRIVE PAST CEMETERIES
THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER IN LOTTAWATAH
THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT(S) OF LOTTAWATAH
UNDYING LOVE IN LOTTAWATAH
 
 
A HAUNTING IN LOTTAWATAH
MURDER OFF THE BOOKS
 
 
MURDER DOUBLES BACK

In Real Life, Pirates Aren’t Sexy or Nice

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by Linda Rodriguez

Pirates with a heart of gold are a mainstay of romance,
fantasy, and science fiction, as well as defunct historical novels. They’re
dashing rebels with sexy outfits and underneath the disguise of the rogue, they’re
really nice guys who do the right thing. We see them on the book covers and in
the movies and television shows. We even celebrate them with Talk Like a Pirate
Day.
But in real life, in the modern world, pirates aren’t any of
those things. They’re not Robin Hoods stealing from the rich to give to the
poor. Despite a lot of discourse on the internet, they’re not rebels against
the establishment, hurting no one and setting “content” free.
Content. Like the book I worked on for years and still haven’t
earned out my advance on. Like the book series my friend wrote and went into
debt to promote until her publisher dropped her because her sales weren’t
rising fast enough—while people were downloading those books for free from
pirate sites.
I have young relatives who use these torrent sites. It makes
for heated discussions at holiday dinners, their mother embarrassed, them
seeing it in that internet-discourse rebel-RobinHood fashion, me trying to
explain the facts of life. I notice all the time that they and the internet
groups that they parrot like to use George R.R. Martin, author of the
bestselling Game of Thrones, as their example. “What can it hurt him with his
millions?” they say disdainfully.
On the other hand, I’m in the field. I see the other 99% who
are damaged by it. One or two hundred copies sold through an outlet that
records the sales and pays the publisher and author versus that same number
ripped off and given away without any record or payment can make the difference
between an author being able to continue to write the books readers want to go
on reading or being dropped by the publisher and having to give up that series
and try again, often under a pseudonym or even in a new genre. George R. R.
Martin and J.K. Rowling, they are not.
Today, again, I found my first novel, Every Last Secret, on a pirate site. It doesn’t take long for those
free downloads to destroy a career for most midlist writers, which is what the
majority of us are. Even more than the money in royalties lost, which is not a
tiny problem for those of us who must make rent and buy food for our families
with it, even more than that, the lost sales are a problem because they can
lead to a writer being dropped. So I’m not happy about finding my book pirated.
I’m of the generation who were taught that it’s wrong to
steal, and that’s that for us. Many of the younger ones I know don’t have the
same idea of stealing=wrong. They see that equation only some times. When it’s
convenient for them. But perhaps if they realized that pirating was a good way
to kill the author’s chances to publish the books they like so much, perhaps
then they would stop and ask themselves if it was really worth it.
What’s your opinion on the pirating question?

Much Ado About Something

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by Sparkle Abbey

When we attend conferences, besides meeting readers (our favorite part of cons and the biggest reason we attend) we’re often on panels with fellow authors, and we also try to attend as many of the other panels as we can. We admit we’re sometimes (okay, frequently) distracted by catching up with friends and finding out what’s going on in this crazy world of publishing. And margaritas.

But we do attend panels.

Often these panels are so great that a panelist says something and we go away and need to think about it. It may be just a snippet but there are times when the “something” hangs with us long after the plane ride home. After the unpacking. After the laundry’s all been done. After we’re back to the routine of the day job. It often pops back into our heads the next time we sit down to write.

Lee Goldberg said one of those “somethings” in a panel we attended. At this point, we’re not even sure of the topic of the panel, but in any case, Lee said, “No one remembers the mystery plot of a Monk episode.” We shared a shocked look, sure that wasn’t true. Lee must be wrong. However, he went on to explain that mostly when fans of the series talk about a storyline, they say ‘the one where there the trash collection workers were on strike’ or ‘the one where Monk had a look-alike who was a crime boss.’

His point was that as writers we often think that the backdrop of the story is secondary, but really it’s vitally important to the story as a whole. If plot is “what” the book is about, the backdrop or sub-plot is tightly hooked into “who” the book is about. And together the what and who make the why, and that’s the trifecta that creates the richness in a series. It’s what makes us remember a book and come back to a character. As a reader, you’ve now lived through an experience with Monk. (Or in our case, Caro and Mel.)

That’s a very cool something.

We belong to an online book discussion group and recently everyone was sharing their all time favorite book(s). Wow, what a wide variety of novels were noted as favorites.

We were again reminded of Lee’s statement.

Fiction books are read for entertainment. We don’t read fiction for knowledge – though it’s very cool when we learn new things as part of the experience. We’ve tried to sprinkle in a few of things we learned about Greyhound rescue in our latest book, Fifty Shades of Greyhound. But when readers talk about the book we hope what they remember is the unique adventure Caro had as she worked to solve this whodunnit.

Because when we discuss our favorite books we talk about the people in the books and all that was happening to them while the story was going on. We share their experience. And that’s the magic of a memorable book.

Now, it’s your turn to think about Lee’s “something”

How about you? When you talk about you favorite books what do you remember?
(Oh and thanks, Lee.)

Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of mystery authors Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter who write the Pampered Pets mystery series for Bell Bridge Books. They are friends as well as neighbors so you’ll often find them writing at ML’s dining room table or at their local Starbucks. They live in the Midwest, but if they could write anywhere, you would find them on the beach with their laptops and depending on the time of day either an iced tea or a margarita.

They love to hear from readers and you can find them online at:
Website: www.SparkleAbbey.com
Facebook:  facebook.com/sparkleabbey  
Twitter: @sparkleabbey
Goodreads: goodreads/sparkleabbey

Returning to the Scene of the Crime

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By Kay Kendall

Tomorrow I fly north to
attend the Canadian mystery conference named Bloody Words. Location: Toronto.
This is something akin to
poetic justice. Not only is this my first Canadian writers and fan conference
but also Toronto is the setting for my debut mystery. Yes, Toronto.

New writers are often advised
to “write what you know.” Yes, I do know Toronto. I lived there for three
years, albeit twenty years after my fictional murder takes place there. At
least I know the climate, the architecture, the street layout. For the right atmosphere
for the time period of DESOLATION ROW, 1968, I consulted friends who lived
there at that time.
Thanks to the joys of the
internet—Facebook, Twitter, and the like—I’ve made many virtual friends in
Ontario. I’m excited to know that I will be meeting some of them, live, for the
first time after many months of correspondence. With Canadian authors like
Cathy Ace, Vicki Delaney, Gloria Ferris, and Dorothy McIntosh I’ll soon be
discussing different ways to bump off our fictional victims. If past mystery
conferences are anything to go by, these chats will be replete with great cackling
and fueled by a fair bit of vino.
Bloody Words has a novel
way of winding up. It should be a hoot. People attending the closing banquet are
encouraged to dress as characters from mystery fiction—preferably historical. I’ll
be going as my amateur sleuth Austin Starr, in full hippie mode. Do expect
photos later!
The life of a writer is
not what I always thought it would be. Thanks to technology and to the
gregariousness and kindness of folks in the mystery-writing world—both authors
and readers alike—my several years as an author have been anything but
solitary. For an extrovert like me, this is a great joy.
*******

Kay Kendall is
an international award-winning public relations executive who lives in Texas
with her husband, four house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. A fan of historical
mysteries, she wants to do for the 1960s what novelist Alan Furst does for
Europe in the 1930s and 1940s–write atmospheric mysteries that capture the
spirit of the age.

Nothing Stays the Same

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The end of May we attended two graduations–great-grandkids, a brother and sister, both from high school. The boy graduated from his regular school. His sister changed schools in September, took an accelerated schedule to graduate a year early. We’ve been to lots of high school graduations over the years, our own kids, grandkids and one other great-grand.

It’s always exciting to see what roads they will take. Only a few have gone on to college, others have found professions they love, and some have married and started families. Last year, about this time, it was grandkids’ weddings we were attending.

Even with us–the patriarchs of our family–sounds weird, but that’s what we are–a lot has changed.

Traveling to far places just isn’t fun anymore. For our 60th wedding anniversary we went on a cruise. The drive to the harbor through Southern California traffic to the ship was harrowing. Waiting in the line in the hot sun to get on board wasn’t fun or easy. The cruise was great, but we found climbing stairs much harder than in the past. Getting off the ship at the end of the cruise, finding our luggage, waiting for the ride to get us back to the hotel where our car was parked, and the horrible drive home was not fun. Hubby said, “That was our last cruise.”

I’ve always loved going to conventions all over the country. Hubby decided flying wasn’t fun anymore when we not only had to change planes but also airlines (going through security two times each way). I’ve continued flying, but have had second thoughts when I almost didn’t make it to my connecting flight and had to be zoomed to it in a wheelchair.

Since then I have flown to another convention, shorter distance, and to a place I’d flown to several times before. It wasn’t too difficult. I did decide against going to Bouchercon this year, even though it’s in California because the only way for me to get there was fly into L.A. and then take a shuttle. Didn’t sound like fun.

We used to attend many book fairs and craft festivals, haul and put up our tent, table and chairs as well as the books. That’s too difficult now too. Still going to those that provide the tent and tables.

And the driving–hubby has decided driving into the L.A. area is no longer something he wants to do. Even though L.A. is where I learned to drive, it’s far too scary for me too. We still drive over to the coast and to Northern CA, but if we need to go where the drivers seem to be a bit on the crazy side, we ask our middle daughter to be the driver. (She was a school bus driver and has nerves of steel.)

One other change. We have lots of little ones in our family. I once was the grandma who loved to babysit–also raised a couple of grandkids, but no longer. I can’t catch a toddler who decides to run away–and I need a nap more than he or she does.

Right now we have one great-grand (the girl who graduated early) who comes to our house to sleep most nights, but that involves no energy on my part.

No matter how things are now, be prepared, nothing stays the same.

Marilyn

P.S. What is the same, I’m still writing and loving it.

Signs of Summer

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As I write this on my lunch hour from the day job, I’m eating a BBQ chicken salad made of leftovers from last night’s grilled dinner. When the weather turns warm, we grill a lot of our dinners. And on the weekends, some lunches as well. Last year, it was a matter of necessity as we were remodeling the kitchen and had no stove for a while. I love making a green salad and then topping it with whatever meat I choose. (Which is frequently fish.)

Last summer’s trip to the ball game

 Walking this morning, I saw another sign of summer, water flowing down the gutter. One of the homeowners was power washing the outside of their house. As a kid, we lived in a neighborhood that flood irrigated. Irrigation day was glorious. The cold water would build up on the lawn, two or three inches deep. Then overflow into the cement gutter that would warm the flowing river from the heat of the day. We walked barefoot through the neighborhood, feeling the cool water splashing our feet.

Taste of Cincinnati – street fair = street food! 

 Once the water receded, we’d catch night crawlers for fishing. Bigger than worms, they would be floated out of their homes when the water filled the ground.

Last week a different walk took me past a blooming peony plant and reminded me of our annual trips to the cemetery to decorate the family graves.

With Fourth of July on the horizon, what’s your must do summer activity? I’m thinking ice cream can’t be too far down my list.

Enjoy your summer,
Lynn