Clicking Our Heels – Our Last Supper – Mystery Writer Style

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Our Last
Supper – Mystery Writer Style

Most of the Stiletto Gang enjoys food and murder,
so it seemed natural to find out what some of us would want to eat for our Last
Supper:

Marilyn Meredith – Crab cakes, lobster tail,
garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus

Jennae M. Phillippe – A series of small plates of
delicious dishes, like the hangar steak I had at a French-Vietnamese restaurant
the other day, each paired perfectly with wine, and finishing with at least
three kinds of dessert, most of which included chocolate.  I would aim for as much flavor variety as
possible.  And, no mushrooms!

Paffi Flood – A filet mignon, cooked medium well,
with a Caesars salad and a vodka tonic

Sparkle Abbey – That’s so hard, we like all types
of food.  Italian, Mediterranean
inspired.  We do better with the
drink.  For us that would be a margarita!

Bethany Maines – I would order something with a
lot of courses that took a lot of time cook and eat.  Let’s just see how long we can make this
last. J

Juliana Aragon Fatula – Tamales, arroz, frijoles,
cheese, quacamole, sopapillas.  My mom
was the greatest cook in my hometown. She sold tamales to make money for Christmas gifts.  She was very popular with the community because of her cooking. Tamales always remind
me of the tamalera in my mom’s kitchen once or twice a year with all the Viejas,
tias, cousins, comadres.  It was beer and
chisme and I learned a lot about life from those parties.

Kay Kendall – Cold shrimp with cocktail
sauce.  Hot French bread with lots of
garlic butter. Hagen

Daz coffee ice cream.

Dru Ann Love – I would have collard greens, rice,
fried chicken, baked macaroni & cheese and for dessert, chocolate frosted
yellow cake.  This is the holiday meal I
grew up with and its comfort food and makes me think of years past with the
family.

Debra H. Goldstein – I’d keep it simple and in
line with my usual cooking style: a cheese pizza followed by coffee, chocolate
mint, or German chocolate cake ice cream.

Paula Benson – For my last supper, I would ask to go back in time to a place no longer existing called “The Captain’s Kitchen.” They served wonderful fried seafood in paper bowls and would bring all you could eat of shrimp, scallops, oysters, and perch (with delicious cocktail and tartar sauce) as well as hush puppies and cole slaw. Just when the servers thought my father had no room for more, he would ask for one last bowl of shrimp, “for dessert.”

The Bag of Tricks

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By Bethany Maines
On my last blog I discussed how I
keep the fictional worlds of my books organized (answer: spreadsheets and
lists!), but recently I gave a talk on writing to a local high-school and they
wanted to know the more nitty-gritty details. Since they are at the start of
their writer journey they have yet to discover that many of the struggles of
writing are shared by all writers. 
What’s that? You have two great scenes, but you’re not sure how to
connect them?  You have half a novel
written, but you don’t know who the bad guy is yet? You really need the hot guy
to land in the heroine’s life, but you don’t know how he gets there?  These are all questions with many possible
answers, and like common core math, many possible ways of getting to the answer.
I thought Kimberly Jayne’s recent
post about Mindful Daydreaming was a great way to answer many writing
questions.  And yesterday’s post from Sally
Berneathy’s post about “pantsing” vs. plotting a novel showed how she dives and
discovers her book as she goes along.  I
have discovered that being a plotter is usually a faster more efficient way for
me to write.  When I have all the answers
before I start writing, I can write even when I’m not feeling very creative or
if I only have five minutes.  But
recently, I found myself stuck on the outline. 
I stared.  I hammered.  I picked. 
I ignored it.  Nothing
happened.  And at some point I decided to
start writing because you know what happens when you don’t write? Nothing.  So I wrote all the way to where I had
outlined and I was just as stuck as I was on the outline.  I was back to being a high-schooler – how do
I connect those two scenes? How do I get the hero from point A to point B? Dear
God, what happens nexxxxxxxt????
Which is when I decided to take my
own advice.  I grabbed a notebook and a
pen. Changing the medium can sometimes change my perspective.  I wrote a synopsis of the story from the
villain’s point of view.  I wrote a
synopsis from the love interests view point. I drew little diagrams about how the
storylines connect. I wrote a few paragraphs about the villain’s history and
motivation, really diving into what he thinks about the events of the story.  It’s an old saying that each of us is the
hero in our own story, and that goes for villains too (see the great post from
Jennae Phillippe about A Villain’s Voice). 
How does a villain think that his actions are justified? As I answered
that question, I discovered more and more about how my story moved
forward.  Which is when I put down the
pen and typed up my scrawling notes. 
Organizing a novel isn’t just
about filing systems; it’s about herding all your characters and ideas into a
coherent plot and making sure that everyone gets to the end (or the right end
if they happen to be the designated dead body) in a satisfying manner.  But sometimes a writer needs to reach into
her bag of tricks and try more than one technique to get the job done.  As I told my room full of high-schoolers, when
in doubt…  try, try something else.
*** 
Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie
Mae Mysteries, Tales from the City of
Destiny and An Unseen Current.
 You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video
or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

The Creation of My Books

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by Sally Berneathy

In real life, I’m a spontaneous, unorganized person. Want to
go on a trip? Sure, I’m in! Airline reservations? Okay, sure, when I get time.
Motels? Oh, we’ll find one.
Fortunately my boyfriend is very organized. He does all
those things and I go along.
A couple of years ago I wanted to attend the Writers’ Police
Academy. My mystery writer friends had been telling me all year how wonderful
it is. They all signed up. I was so excited about going!
Usually I go to conferences with a friend who has the same
personality as my boyfriend. She registers, gets a hotel room and a flight,
then orders me to register for the conference and get on the same flight.
But she isn’t a mystery writer. When I finally got around to
signing up for the Writers’ Police Academy, registration was closed. All spots
taken. That sucked! Well, maybe next year.
Then a friend got word that they had a cancellation. Did I
want it? Yes! She gave the conference organizer my name, so when I finally got
around to contacting him, the slot was, amazingly, still open. Yay!
Then there was the matter of the hotel room. I got on the
Internet and checked. No rooms available. Bummer. I called the hotel to find
out the closest place I could stay and still get to the conference. Well, the
hotel was kind of isolated. Not much else around. Yikes! But as we were
talking, someone called and cancelled! I got a room!
In spite of being a pretty flaky person, I manage to get
through life with a little luck and a lot of help from my friends.
My writing style follows my life style. There are two types
of writers: (1) Plotters who create an outline of the entire story then write
the book. (2) Pantsers who write by the seat of our pants. We begin with the
beginning and write the book as it unfolds in our brain. I’m a pantser.
I get an idea for a new book. I create a new folder on my
computer for that book then the first document entitled “Notes.” In that
document I write whatever comes to mind. “Trent’s ex-wife is going to cause
problems.” “A body appears on Lindsay’s lawn, and Henry didn’t drag this one
in.” “Rick has a scheme for taking over the international chocolate market.” I
also keep notebooks stashed around the house and in my car so I can make notes
as ideas occur to me. “Rick GF bro drugs.” Those notes are often hard to
decipher, especially the ones written while sitting in my car at a red light or
in bed in the middle of the night when I don’t want to turn on the light and
wake the boyfriend.
The first chapter unfolds in my head like a movie. I simply
write it down.
Then I take that first chapter and my cluttered notes to my
critique group and they say things like, “Are you crazy? Fred can’t have a
secret baby!”
With a better understanding of what may or may not happen in
my upcoming book, I go home and continue writing. Each scene is a surprise. Magic
happens. I realize that the cast iron skillet I put in Chapter 2 has a purpose!
It’s exactly what Lindsay needs in Chapter 9 to whack her ex over the head.
As I reach the halfway point of the first draft, new plot
points come up as if by magic. I write a sticky note for each one. “Go back to
Chapter 3 and insert something about the witch in the window.” “Check for
references to Chaille and be sure each one shows she’s bat crap crazy.” “Give
Chuck a gun in Chapter 7 but he doesn’t know which end the bullets come out of.”
When I do my first round of revisions, I throw away each
sticky note as I make the designated change. When my desk is clean, I know my
story line is logical.
I sometimes wish I could be a plotter. Like having airline
and motel reservations in advance of a trip, an outline of my book would make
writing it much easier and reduce the stress of wondering if the Scene Fairy
will give me the next one.
When I wrote for Harlequin/Silhouette in the 1990s, I had to
turn in a proposal for each new book. A proposal consisted of the first three
chapters and a synopsis of the rest of the book. Writing the first three
chapters was easy, but the synopsis was a nightmare. I’d call my editor almost
every day and bounce ideas off her. She was The Best Editor and always willing
to help. Finally after twice the time it took me to write those first three
chapters, I’d finish a satisfactory synopsis and send it off. They’d buy the
book and I’d write the rest of it…and from Chapter 4 through the end, it had
nothing to do with that stupid synopsis.
Now that I write for myself, I don’t have to pretend I know
the ending of the book until I get there. Amazingly, I always get there…with a
little luck and a lot of help from my friends.

Meet the Authors of the 2015 Agatha Best Short Story Nominees!

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Each year at Malice Domestic,
writing excellence is recognized by the Agatha awards. This year’s nominees for
Best Short Story are:
“A Joy Forever” (PDF)
by B.K. Stevens (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, March 2015)
“Suffer the
Poor” (PDF) by Harriette Sackler, History & Mystery, Oh My (Mystery
& Horror, LLC)
“A Killing at the
Beausoleil” (PDF) by Terrie Farley Moran (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine,
Nov. 2015)
“A Questionable Death” (PDF) by Edith Maxwell, History
& Mystery, Oh My (Mystery & Horror, LLC)
“A Year Without Santa
Claus?” (PDF) by Barb Goffman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine,
Jan./Feb. 2015)



Please enjoy the opportunity to read
these stories, if you haven’t already. We are so fortunate to have with us
today B.K. Stevens, Harriette Sackler, Terrie Farley Moran, Edith Maxwell,
and Barb Goffman.
All are not only fabulous writers, but also delightful people. Thanks, Bonnie,
Harriette, Terrie, Edith, and Barb for stopping by to share your work and
thoughts with us!—Paula Gail Benson
What are your writing habits?
B.K. Stevens
B.K. STEVENS:         Usually,
I spend a lot of time planning, especially if I’m working on a whodunit and
have to make sure all the evidence will come together. I may or may not make some
sort of outline, but I almost always take a lot of notes on the
computer—exploring various plot possibilities, planning clues, writing profiles
of characters and describing their backstories, and so on. Usually, my notes
are much longer than the final story; for the last story I submitted to Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine,
they’re over three times as long. I like to have a clear idea of where I’m
headed before I begin to write, even though I usually end up making lots of
changes during drafting and revising. I draft fairly quickly and try (often not
successfully) to resist the temptation to revise while I’m drafting. Once the
first draft is done, I put it aside for at least a week and then spend a long
time revising and editing. For me, revising always involves a lot of cutting—my
first drafts are always much too long. I try to have at least two projects in
progress at all times. That way, if I get stuck on one, I can put it aside for
a while and focus on the other.
HARRIETTE SACKLER:      Since
I’m involved in many different projects, I write when I can. Once I have a
kernel of a story idea in my mind, I put it down on paper. I do seem
to accomplish more when I’m under deadline. I’m a great procrastinator.
Terrie Farley Moran
TERRIE FARLEY MORAN: I write
seven days a week. I get up every morning leave the house and do some kind of
exercise (walking, visit the gym, water aerobics or bike ride) then I come home
and sit at the keyboard. I write until I break to eat lunch and watch a few
minutes of news. Then I go back to the keyboard until about six o’clock when I go
out for a walk or a bike ride. If I am falling behind on a deadline I write
after dinner until bedtime. Under the heading “writing” I include all writing
related chores: editing, research, website, blog posts, etc. And, of course, I
still try to have an actual life!
EDITH MAXWELL:  I am a full-time
fiction writer now and I treat it like a job. I’m always up by six AM and am
working by seven. Whether I’m working on the first draft of a book, a short
story, or revision, I do my creative work before noon. Then I head out for my
brisk long walk—often plotting the next day’s
scene as I go – and reserve the afternoon for admin jobs like writing blog
posts, arranging author events, and other items of author business. So far it’s
working—I have three multi-book contracts, so
I have to write three books a year, plus one or more short stories.
Barb Goffman
BARB
GOFFMAN:    When I come up with a story
idea—be it organically, or more often, in response to a story call—and don’t
have the time to write the story immediately (that’s ninety-nine percent of the
time), I’ll write some notes about the idea: the beginning, the end, maybe a
bit of dialogue or the voice I hear in my head. Then those notes will sit,
sometimes for a long time, until I find the time to write that story. I prefer
to write in large chunks rather than a few minutes a day, so I can go a long
time between writing stretches when my day job keeps me busy.
Once I
start writing, I’ll write a few paragraphs, then read them out loud, revising
them before I go forward. Any time I take a break or get stuck, I’ll re-read
the last few paragraphs out loud, trying to get a feel for what comes next
(and, of course, revising as I go). While I’m writing a story, I may also sleep
on it, take a short drive, or a hot shower, trying to think on it—consider if I
have plot holes, how I could spice up the dialogue, create a plot twist, and
more. Once I finish, I try to let the finished story sit for a few days (or
longer if I have the time) before I read it again and try to spot and fix any
problems. And then I send the story out to a trusted friend or two for feedback
before I revise once more and then send the story out for submission. (Though I
must admit I’m often so eager to see what my friends think that I may send a
story to them before I’ve cleaned it up perfectly. Letting the story sit for a
few days is hard, even though I know that’s the best way to proceed. I keep
trying to reign myself in. It’s a work in progress.)
How long does it take to plan and complete
a short story?
B.K.
STEVENS:         Generally, it takes a
long, long time. Once in a while, I’ll get an idea, do only a little planning,
and sit down and write the story straight through. That doesn’t happen often,
though—maybe four or five times in the last thirty years, usually for flash
fiction stories, and even then I’ll spend days cutting and revising. Most of
the time, depending on the length and complexity of the story, the whole
process takes several weeks or several months. (But remember, I work on more
than one project at a time.) If I’m not satisfied with a story, I may put it
aside for months or even years until I think of a way to fix it. Right now,
I’ve got a half-written story that’s been sitting in a folder for at least
three years, waiting until I come up with a better murder method.
Harriette Sackler
HARRIETTE
SACKLER:      I’m not one to churn out
stories in a short time. It takes me a while from conception to finished story.
But that feels fine to me.
TERRIE FARLEY
MORAN: I am a very slow writer and writing
is a very contrarian occupation. If I think a story is going to take a long
time to write, it usually gets itself down on paper without a problem. If I
expect the story to be a quick slam dunk, it generally turns out to be
torturous to write. Basically when I see a call for submissions that interests
me, or when I get an idea for a potential story, I tend to think about it for a
good long while. Once I think of a direction the story could take, I begin to
research anything that could possibly relate. I do far more research than
necessary because…I love research. Then I think some more. While all this
thinking and research is going on I am generally working on another project or
two. Eventually I write the story. I don’t outline, I just plunge into it. Of
course if there is a deadline that sets the time frame.
Edith Maxwell
EDITH
MAXWELL:  That really varies. Once the
story emerges in my head, sometimes I can talk it through on my hour walk (see
previous question, and yes, I’m the crazy author lady who talks out loud to
herself on the rail trail). Then I take a day or two to write the first draft.
But the finishing, editing down, and making sure it works can take a lot
longer. And with historical stories set in a real location, there’s always more
research to be done, too.
BARB
GOFFMAN:    It varies. If I get a detailed
idea, I might finish the first draft in a few days. (That’s how I prefer to
proceed. I like to know the beginning, a few high points, and the end before I
start writing. It makes the process easier.) But sometimes I’ll hear a voice in
my head—a story’s beginning—and I’ll start writing. I might write a couple of
paragraphs or a page or two, and then I’ll get stuck, really stuck, because I
have no plot to go with the voice. Those stories can become big problems
because I’ve found my writing flows best when I come up with conflict first and
let character react to it, and the plot unfolds from there. When characters
show up first without the conflict—those are my problem children.
That’s
what happened with my nominated story “A Year Without Santa Claus?” I saw a
call for whodunit stories set in New Jersey. I woke up soon thereafter with the
main character’s voice in my head. I wrote the first page, and that was all I
wrote on that story—for years. Whodunits are hard to write (at least for me). I
needed a mystery and suspects and all that good stuff. I needed a plot in which
my character could solve the crime when the police couldn’t. And I had none of
that. Perhaps three years later, one morning out
of the blue, I had an idea in the shower—a plot that worked. I hurried to my
computer (thank goodness I had the time to write that day and week) and banged
out a solid draft within a few days. So sometimes it takes a few days to come
up with an idea and write a story. Sometimes the planning can take a few years
and then the writing a few days. It’s nice when it all comes together fast.
What shoes would you, your protagonist, or another character from
your story wear to the Agathas banquet?
B.K. STEVENS:         I’ll wear boring,
sensible shoes, because I always wear boring, sensible shoes. Gwen seems like
the type to wear boring, sensible shoes, too. Considering the way the story
ends, though, this time she might just wear stilettos.
HARRIETTE SACKLER:      I’m at the age when comfort is my most
important priority. Gone are the days of high heels and pointed toes.
I’ll be at the banquet in a pair of
strappy and low-heeled shoes.
TERRIE FARLEY MORAN: I intend to wear this pair of MUNRO AMERICAN bright
red shoes. I think Sassy and Bridgy would wear similar bright red shoes but with
fewer straps and a higher heel.
EDITH MAXWELL:  I’m SO not a shoe person. And my Quaker
midwife Rose Carroll from “A Questionable Death” would wear something very
modest, as well. But her unconventional friend and co-conspirator, postmistress
Bertie Winslow? She loves fancy hats and colorful clothes. She’ll wear these
satin embroidered evening slippers to the banquet.
BARB GOFFMAN:    Kyle Coyote, my main character’s security chief, would wear
rocket skates from the Acme Company because when something goes wrong, he needs
to reach his destination fast. Plus, he loves Acme’s innovative products (how
many companies are selling rideable rockets?), despite his boss’s concerns
about defects.
I’ll be wearing open-heeled black
shoes with a tiny heel because I believe in comfort.

Reviews- Shuddering in Our Boots

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REVIEWS – SHUDDERING IN OUR BOOTS by
Debra H. Goldstein

After a Broadway show opens,
everyone gathers in a restaurant not sure whether they are celebrating or about
to attend a wake.  Why?  Because they’re waiting for the reviews. 

Authors are the same.  We nash our teeth waiting to see reviews that
appear before our books are released. 
Afterwards, we can’t help but glance at any that appear on Amazon, Goodreads,
or in national publications.  If they are
good, we happy dance and hope that everyone in the world sees the review.

But, what about the bad ones – and
there will be some.  Do we hide away and
hope no one reads them? Do we take them on? In my mind, we don’t do
either.  We read them carefully to see
what we can learn from them.  Our first
reading of a bad review tells us which type it is: one carefully reasoned or
one that is from left field that should be disregarded.

When my first book, Maze in Blue was
published, most of the reviews were excellent. Two were not. One, by Dr. Don Noble, who reviews for NPR
and Alabama Public Radio, praised a few things, but then pointed out flaws in
the structure and styling of the book. His comments cut to the quick, but today,
his review is my favorite. He taught me to avoid dumping and how to properly
write the ending of a book – something no class had ever fully explained to me.
Even though people continue to enjoy the book – reading it for fun rather than
with a critical eye, I still cringe at the rookie mistake I made. The good
thing is that because of his review, I’ll never make that mistake again.
And, the bad review? Someone gave me
two stars on Amazon noting that in writing about Ann Arbor, Michigan, I’d made errors in where the hospital entrance was located and how one of the main roads ran. I thought about writing a
response explaining that six to eight months after the book is set, the road was rerouted because the new dental school was built causing the hospital’s emergency entrance to be moved, but knew I shouldn’t. Happily, another reviewer, who gave the book five stars, took him on by noting that she was a professor’s daughter who lived in Ann Arbor at exactly the time the book was set and that I’d caught the locations and feeling of being on campus perfectly.  I chose to embrace her review and disregard his.

My new book, Should Have Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery, was released by Five Star on April 20.  Happily, at this point, all the reviews have been good. I know there will a few negative ones sometime in the future, but for now, I’m happy dancing so much that I’m going to engage in a little blatant self-promotion.  Forgive me in advance J:

“There are numerous plot threads
being woven into this relatively short mystery, and yet all are neatly tied
together by its stunning conclusion. … While the investigations remain the main
focus driving the novel, added elements of romance and humor only enhance this
thoroughly entertaining novel.  Carrie is
a very sympathetic character, and despite her traumas she allows herself
moments of playfulness and joy.  As much
a legal thriller as a family drama, readers will find much to enjoy in this new
series.” – Cynthia Chow – Kings River Life Magazine

“Should Have Played Poker has a
fast-paced plot with short chapters, enjoyable characters, and an  It touches on issues of
aging, family ties, corporate responsibility, and religious tolerance, and
culminates in a surprise ending that makes Carrie question most everything she
has ever believed in.” – Sharon Marchisello – Killer Nashville Book of the Day

abundance of
red herrings.

“If you’re a maven of mah jongg and
a fan of mysteries, you’ll find this easy-to-read, enjoyable, suspenseful,
well-paced adventure belongs on your nightstand right between your good-luck
tile and your playing schedule.  Judge
Goldstein deftly immerses the reader in rich characters, cozy settings,
complicated relationships, and intrigue. 
As the characters come together, cross paths, discover clues, and
unravel relationships, you’ll find yourself wringing your hands worried for
Carrie’s safety, wondering who should she trust, and who is the kikenhai
(dangerous tile) in the lot.”  – Scott D.
Miller –Mahjong News

“This was a very enjoyable
story.  …smoothly paced with enough
action to keep me delving into all aspects of this intriguing mystery that I
could not put down until I knew who the killer was. …With a loveable cast of
characters, good dialogue and a feel good atmosphere, this was a terrific read
and I hope there are more stories with Carrie and her friends.” – Dru Ann – dru’s book musings

The Unseen (Forget Unsung) Heroines

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I had this great post planned. J
 
Bethany inspired me so much with her “how I organize my
corner of the universe,” I intended to admit to uhm… less organization. And no
spreadsheets.

I’m more along the lines of J.M. Phillippe’s “winging it.”

I even took a photo of the messy pile of notes and ideas
stacked up on my desk (and the bedside table, the countertop, the…err…you get
the picture).  Really, all those snippets
do turn into a first draft. Then there’s the tri-fold board with color coded
Post-its (aren’t Post-it’s the best?), broken out by Act and Turning Point, for editing and organizing. (The color coding matches each Point of View character. See? Really. I can be organized.)
(Surely I have a picture of a story board somewhere…) 
Instead of writing about my writing process, every spare moment has been dedicated to the
Daphne. That’s the Daphne du Maurier Award
for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense contest, sponsored by the Kiss of
Death. Great contest. Wonderful
entries/contestants and judges.
I’m all for volunteering although clearly I had no idea what I’d
agreed to do. You see, coordinators are the unseen people behind the scenes who
make sure the entries meet the requirements and work with the judges to get the
score-sheets and manuscripts turned back in. They “unch” (that’s the polite word for politely pester) and hold people’s hands while figuring out technical troubles. They keep lots and lots of records
and cross check everything. Basically it’s a paper chase, or these days, an
electronic chase spread across four desktop screens.
But the best part of being a coordinator will come in a few
days when I have the privilege of calling the finalists. There’s nothing like
telling someone how much strangers enjoyed their stories and that their
manuscript was voted “best in the group.”
Bring on the coffee and the spreadsheets. I have entries to
manage.
Cathy Perkins loves writing twisting plots and relationship
chemistry. She  

especially loved hearing from the Award of
Excellence coordinator, who told her strangers liked her novel.

She wants to publicly thank the judges and
coordinator again for all the volunteer time and efforts they put into that
contest.

I’M LIVING IN THE ROARING TWENTIES

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By Kay Kendall

For the last five years I’ve lived half of my life in
the 1960s. Life inside my head, that is. During this time I wrote two
mysteries—one set in 1968 and the second a year later. Because it was important
for me to evoke the time period and get the feel just right, I recycled my own memories from that era, making them as vivid on the page as I possibly
could.

Last fall I began writing my third mystery in the series,
also taking place in 1969. I managed to get
the opening done to my satisfaction–usually difficult for me, but this time, no problem! The opening was great. But then I stalled out. Even
though I’d looked forward to writing this particular mystery in my Austin Starr
series for a long time, I could not seem to move forward with it.

Then an odd thing happened. In the midst of discussing
mystery writing with a friend, I had a brain wave. I got excited about Austin
Starr’s grandmother. I could see her, knew what she was like and understood
the issues she faced. The grandmother was in her early twenties, lived in small
town Texas, and her mystery would be set in 1923. Prohibition was the backdrop
and would play a large part in the plot development.

And so my third mystery transmogrified into something
altogether different from what I had planned. Suffice it to say that these days
my mind is all awhirl, caught up in the roaring twenties.

I can tell you all about the Volstead Act of 1919 that
prohibited alcohol production and consumption in America, led to widespread
flouting of laws in general, and gave rise to organized crime across the
nation.

I can tell you when certain slang phrases erupted into the
culture—like jeepers creepers, cut a rug,
and tomato–used to describe a comely
female rather than an edible.

I can tell you which cars were on the road in Texas in the
1920s and what they looked like.

I can tell you when Time
magazine was founded –1923.

Although I miss living half my time in the 1960s, I enjoy the mental change of pace. While the twenties and the sixties were each
eras of huge transformation, the twenties in America was a time of optimism
(until the Great Crash of 1929), whereas the sixties saw increased gloom,
beginning with the Kennedy assassination in 1963.  Of course I don’t know what it was really
like to be young in the twenties, but I have steeped myself in its culture for
quite some time. My grandparents had a set of World Book encyclopedias published
in 1922 that I poured over when I was in grade school, absorbing the culture—the silent
movies, the flappers, and all that jazz. Who knows? Perhaps I’ve been waiting
ever since then to write about this fascinating time period.

I haven’t given up on the 1960s.  Austin
Starr and her grandmother will eventually work together to solve a mystery in the book I have
temporarily laid aside. That plot line was already planned. I just didn’t know that I would
take a detour back to the roaring twenties before I could proceed with another
book set in the turbulent sixties.
~~~~~~~

Rainy Day Women by Kay Kendall

 “5 Stars! Kendall delivers a spectacular mystery. The protagonist, Austin Starr, balances being a wife, a mother and an investigator with great skill. This is definitely a coming of age story, for women and for our country. A revolution occurred during the sixties, changing the roles for women, politics and war. She shows it all.”  

Winging It

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by J.M. Phillippe

Earlier this month, fellow Stiletto Gang author Bethany Maines posted a great blog about how she organizes her novels using spreadsheets and graphs — all online! I was super impressed. And then intimidated. Because my organization of a novel looks a lot more like this:

Images of writing notebooks
Sometimes I can’t even read my own writing.

 I don’t even remember to put all my notes about the same story in the same notebook.

I do start out trying to be super organized. I spend a lot of time procrastinating…er…pre-writing by creating elaborate systems and files that some part of me knows I will never maintain. I understand that that the more up-front work I do, the less back-end work I’ll have to do. And yet, inevitably, at some point during a writing project I find myself digging through various notebooks and poorly named Word files, trying to find that one piece of information I need to complete whatever section I’m working on. I have to scan first drafts specifically for continuity errors (like the spelling of a name), and if it wasn’t for eagle-eyed readers and editors, I’d miss small changes I made in even basic descriptions (did that room have a brown leather chair or a burgundy leather chair?).

Vader is not impressed with me.

I also only ever make it half-way through a novel outline before the drafting process takes over, and characters and plots move in totally different directions. It’s a little bit because I find outlines kind of boring, and a little bit more that if I get too detailed and figure out how it will all end, I lose interest. Generally, I never start with more than a vague sense of where I want to end up, and I find drafting it out so much more satisfying. And yet I know that an outline would probably make the entire process a lot less messy — and faster — if maybe not as spontaneous.

Of course, come revision time, I then I have to backtrack and do all the work that I maybe shoulda coulda woulda done in the pre-writing process. I create a reverse outline of my chapters and sections. I make a style sheet and finally decide on a single spelling of a name (the search and replace feature in Word is very much my friend). Changes are always intentionally planned. I invest heavily in the revision process, and the story can change dramatically from draft to draft.

In many ways, starting off by winging it and then going back and organizing what I’ve written lets me discover the story in two different ways — as I write it, and after I go back and read what I’ve written. That process of discovery keeps me interested in the story, even if it is very labor intensive.

Still, I can’t help but look at the ways other writers organize themselves and wistfully daydream about my own set of spread sheets and graphs. Sometimes though, I’d settle for remembering exactly where I put that really great breakdown of the third act I thought of while on the bus two months ago. All I have to do is figure out what notebook I had with me that day…

***
J.M. Phillippe is the author of Perfect Likeness. She has lived in the deserts of California, the
suburbs of Seattle, and the mad rush of New York City.  She worked as a freelance journalist before
earning a masters’ in social work.  She
works as a family therapist in Brooklyn, New York and spends her free-time
decorating her tiny apartment to her cat Oscar Wilde’s liking, drinking cider
at her favorite British-style pub, and training to be the next Karate Kid, one
wax-on at a time.

Meet the Authors of the 2015 Agatha Best First Novel Nominees!

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Each
year at Malice Domestic, writing excellence is recognized by the Agatha awards.
This year’s nominees for Best First Novel are (in alphabetical order by first
name):
On the Road with Del and Louise, Art Taylor
(Henery Press)
Macdeath, Cindy Brown (Henery Press)
Plantation Shudders, Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
Just Killing Time, Julianne Holmes (Berkley)
Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman, Tessa Arlen (Minotaur Books)

Today,
the Stiletto Gang welcomes Art Taylor, Cindy Brown, Ellen Byron, Julianne
Holmes, and Tessa Arlen. All are not only skilled and talented writers, but
also charming and caring people. Thanks, Art, Cindy, Ellen, Julianne, and Tessa,
for stopping by to share your work and thoughts with us!—Paula Gail Benson

What
writing habits enabled you to complete a novel?
ART TAYLOR: I’m not a person who sets daily word quotas or
time quotas, but instead try to have staged goals for my writing: complete
such-and-such a scene this day, for example, or revise a specific chunk of
prose, or maybe just brainstorm how to fix a troubled turn of plot. Setting and
keeping such goals is easier during the summer when I’m not juggling the
demands of teaching: piles of reading and lesson prep in advance of each class,
piles of grading added to the burden. But I try to touch base as regularly as
possible with the project at hand; forward progress of any kind is better than
no progress, and regularity keeps my brain working on a project whether I’m actively
writing or not.
CINDY BROWN: I am dogged. Not good at sticking to a routine,
necessarily, but good about finishing what I begin. I do try to stick to
a routine and can sometimes manage it (I almost always work on my fiction first
thing in the morning), but typically instead I have to create little incentives
for myself, e.g. “No more coffee until you’ve finished this scene.” I am also
the wrold’s worst typisy (see?), which really slows me down. Luckily, I have
discovered that using voice dictation really helps when translating the mess
that is my first draft. As I speak the correct words into the computer, I also
get a chance to hear them out loud. Very helpful.
ELLEN BYRON: When you write for television like I do, there’s
no such thing as writer’s block. That’s also true for the magazine articles I’m
assigned. I have deadlines to meet. Not only that, since I hate having work
hang over me, my goal is to always beat a deadline. That one habit has
enabled me to complete three novels in the last three years. (One of which, sad
to say, is collecting e-dust in my computer.)
JULIANNE HOLMES: There is nothing like a deadline to get me
moving! I am a plotter, so I have scene cards with objectives lined up. I find
that really helpful when I try and grab time to write during the day, or in the
evening. I can catch myself up fairly easily. I also try and write every day,
but that doesn’t always happen. The other writing habits that help?
Accountability with others. I blog with the Wicked Cozy Authors, and we talk
one another through Book Jail, i.e. time at the computer when you are up
against a deadline. And Fritoes. Fritoes have magical writing powers.
TESSA ARLEN: I am a very energetic person, so I am happiest
when I am doing something. I write first thing in the morning, the moment after
I have taken the dog out, and had a cup of tea. I love winter, because it
doesn’t get light in the Northwest until about half past eight in the morning,
so there are no distractions. I sit down and write and don’t lift my head until
mid-day…and then I take a shower!
 
Is
your debut novel part of a series or a stand alone?
ART TAYLOR: On the Road with Del & Louise is a
standalone novel. However, when I wrote the first story here (it’s a novel in
stories), I hadn’t planned for it even to become a book—and yet look
where it ended up. Never say never, I guess. And, in fact, the ending of the
book does leave open the possibility of returning to these characters again
some time.

 
CINDY BROWN: Macdeath is the first in the
Ivy Meadows series–madcap mysteries set in the off, off, off Broadway
world of theater. The Sound of Murder (Book 2) came out in October, and Oliver
Twisted (Book 3) will be out June 21st.
ELLEN BYRON: It’s the first in my Cajun Country Mysteries
series, brought to you by Crooked Lane Books! The second book in the series, Body
on the Bayou, launches on September 13th. I now have a four-book deal for
the series, so look for future installs in the coming years.
JULIANNE HOLMES: Just Killing Time is the first in the
Clock Shop Mystery series by Berkley Prime Crime. Clock and Dagger comes
out in August, and I am working on Chime and Punishment (working title)
now.
TESSA ARLEN: It is the first book in what Minotaur books call
the Lady Montfort series. The second book: Death Sits Down to Dinner will
be published March 29, this year. And I have just turned in Death by Any
Other Name.
What
shoes would you, your protagonist, or another character from your novel wear to
the Agathas banquet?
ART TAYLOR: Footwear is an important decision come banquet
time—and sharp apparel generally. Two years ago, I wore brown-on-brown saddle
shoes, and last year was white bucks—with a seersucker suit! (I was told by one
friend I had rushed the season, but I count Easter and not Memorial Day as the
go-ahead to break out some spring/summer duds.) This year, I’m planning either
bucks again—classic tan this time—or a pair of olive-over-cream saddle shoes
that I always want to wear and that my wife always talks me out of it. (She
won’t be there this year, so maybe I’ll be daring.) As for Del and Louise:
comfort first, always—though Del is more of a loner and likely wouldn’t feel
comfortable anyway with the crowds and the socializing.
CINDY BROWN: I found a nice pair of black patent leather
flats. As a mostly-broke actress, Ivy would probably employ a costumer’s trick:
she’d find a pair of inexpensive vintage pumps, spray them silver, and hot glue
her grandma rhinestone earrings to them. Très chic (as long as you don’t look too closely)!
ELLEN BYRON: After many years spent in Skechers Go-Walks, I
made the mistake of wearing two-inch pumps to last year’s Agatha Awards
banquet. If you were there and saw a short brunette grimacing as she limped
around the place, that was me. So this year, I’ll be wearing black ankle boots
that have served me well at other conventions. You hardly notice them under my
palazzo pants, and they’re super comfy. By the way, my protagonist Magnolia
“Maggie” Crozat, also ranks comfort over style—unless she’s trying to turn up
the heat with the handsome and mysterious new detective in town, Bo Durand.
JULIANNE HOLMES: What a good question! Usually I go for
comfort over style, but this year I may need to step it up a bit. That said,
don’t expect to see me in heels. I’m already 5’ 10”, so I’ve never been
comfortable in heels. But I do like platforms.
TESSA ARLEN: Haha! At last
year’s Malice I turned my ankle on Thursday evening and spent the rest of the
night at the local hospital (there is one just up the road by the way -quite
handy). For the rest of the convention I hobbled around in a cast, wearing one
flat shoe on the other foot. My two sleuths would only wear shoes appropriate
to their station to a banquet. Mrs. Jackson is a housekeeper so she is on her
feet all day, but she is an elegant individual as are her black ankle boots
with all those nice shiny little boot buttons down the outside. Whereas,
Clementine Talbot the Countess of Montfort would have a pair of shoes—most
probably designed by Paul Poiret—for every evening dress with what we English
call a ‘lavatory pan’ heel and a pointy toe.
Thank you all for taking the time
to stop by the Stiletto Gang. Best wishes!
These Agatha Award finalists also
are answering questions at a number of mystery-themed blogs in the lead-up to
Malice Domestic. Find them next at Criminal Minds on Friday, April 22; and at
Chicks on the Case on Monday, April 25!
Here’s some additional information about them:

Art Taylor is the author of On
the Road with Del & Louise: A Novel in Stories. He has won two Agatha
Awards, the Anthony Award, the Macavity Award, and three consecutive Derringer
Awards for his short fiction, and a selection from On the Road with Del
& Louise was chosen for the forthcoming Best American Mystery
Stories anthology. He is an associate professor of English at George Mason
University, and he contributes frequently to the Washington Post, the Washington
Independent Review of Books, and Mystery Scene Magazine. www.arttaylorwriter.com
Cindy Brown is a theater geek, mystery lover, and
award-winning writer who recently combined her passions to produce madcap
mysteries set in the off, off, off Broadway world of theater. Her books
star Ivy Meadows, actress and part-time PI, and are published by Henery
Press. They include Macdeath, The Sound of Murder (3rd place in
the 2013 international Words With Jam First Page Competition, judged by
Sue Grafton), and Oliver Twisted (coming June 2016). Check out
Cindy’s slightly silly look at mystery, writing, and drama at cindybrownwriter.com.
Ellen Byron’s debut novel, Plantation Shudders, was
nominated for a Best Humorous Mystery Lefty Award, as well as being chosen by
the Library Journal as a Debut Mystery of the Month. Body on the Bayou,
the second in Ellen’s Cajun Country Mystery series, launches in September. Her
television credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me and Still Standing, as well as
pilots for most of the major networks; she’s written over 200 magazine
articles; her published plays include the award-winning Graceland and Asleep
on the Wind. Ellen is a recipient of a William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic
Grant for mystery writers. http://www.ellenbyron.com/
Julianne Holmes writes the Clock Shop Mysteries for Berkley
Prime Crime. The first in the series, Just Killing Time, debuted in October.
Clock and Dagger comes out in August. As J.A. Hennrikus, she has short
stories in three Level Best anthologies, Thin Ice, Dead Calm and Blood
Moon. She is on the board of Sisters in Crime, and Sisters in Crime New
England and is a member of MWA. She blogs with the Wicked Cozy Authors. http://JulianneHolmes.com @JulieHennrikus
Tessa Arlen, the daughter of a British diplomat, had lived in
or visited her parents in Singapore, Cairo, Berlin, the Persian Gulf, Beijing,
Delhi and Warsaw by the time she was sixteen. Tessa’s first novel is Death
of a Dishonorable Gentleman. She lives with her family on an island in the
Puget Sound. http://www.tessaarlen.com/

Making a List and Checking It Twice

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by Linda Rodriguez

I’m a big believer in using all the
help technology and professional writing books and programs can give me in
writing. I’ve tried using all kinds of workbooks, charts, and forms in working
on a novel. I’m even now learning to use Scrivener to write my next book. I’m
hardly on the cutting edge, but I’m also not one of the “if it was good enough
for Hemingway, it’s good enough for me” types. Still, sometimes we look around
and find simple everyday solutions to our problems, and it would be silly not
to take advantage of them.
One of the most useful tools I’ve
found in writing a novel is the simple, old-fashioned list. If you’re like me,
you use lists to remind you what you need to do during the day, what you need
to pack for a trip, what you need to buy at the grocery store, and dozens of
other mundane projects, large and small. It’s easy to assume we need something
more sophisticated for this complex novel (for novels are all more or less
complex) that we’re trying to hold in our heads and build on paper. However,
I’ve discovered that simple lists can help in several ways with making that
story in our head a reality in print.
First of all, I keep running character
and place lists. I write a mystery series. When I wrote the first book, Every Last Secret, I was creating all
the characters from scratch, as well as all the places in my fictional town.
 I wrote personality and appearance sketches for each character, but in
addition, I made a list of each character as s/he appeared with a few words to
note key characteristics. I did the same for places in my made-up town. This
meant I could look up the full name of walk-on characters easily when I needed
to much later in the book. It meant that I could easily look up the important
details of the buildings on the campus and the shops on the town square as my
protagonist, Skeet Bannion, walked past them or into them.
These lists tripled in value when I
started the second book in the series and then the third and fourth. No one will have brown
eyes in the first novel and baby-blues in one of the later books, unless I
forget to check my list. Old Central, the 19th century castle-like
mansion on the Chouteau University campus, will not morph into a 1960s Bauhaus
box of a building.
Next, when I’m plotting ahead, simple
lists come to my aid again. I’m a combination of outliner and
follow-the-writing plotter. I like to know where the next 25-50 pages are
going, plotwise—or to think I do, at least. I do this by making a list of
questions that I need to answer about the book. In the beginning, I have lots
of questions. The answer to only one or two may give me enough to start the
next several days’ writing. I stole the idea of asking myself questions and
answering them in writing from Sue Grafton. She posts to her website journals
that she keeps while writing each novel, and in these, she often asks and
answers these types of questions. I took it a bit further by trying to make
long lists of questions that needed to be answered, which often, in turn, add
more questions to the list when they are answered.
Answering the questions tells me where
the story wants to go, but these lists also help me keep the subplots straight
and make sure they tie in directly to the main plot, and they keep me from
overlooking some detail or element that will create a plot hole or other
disruption for the reader. These questions can vary from broad ones, such as
“What is the book’s theme?” and “How can I ratchet up the excitement and stakes
in Act II?” to more detailed, such as “What clue does Skeet get from this interview?”
and “What’s on Andrew’s desk?” Such question lists come in handy during
revision, as well.
During revision, I make yet another
kind of simple list. As I’m reading the manuscript straight through in hard
copy, I write down a list of questions as I go. I notice a weak spot and ask
myself, “How can I let the reader know how much Jake meant to Skeet, as well as
Karen?,” “Should I have Skeet attend Tina’s autopsy?,” and all too often,
“Reads competent enough, but where’s the magic?”
After going through my lists of
hundreds of big to tiny fixes and changes to make, and listing by scene where
in the book to make the fix (for major issues), I sit down to wrestle with 5-15
major structural problems from almost but not quite minor to huge and complex.
This final list is my guideline through the swamps of revision. The issues on
this list require changes that thread throughout part or all of the book.
Trying to do them all at once or even to keep them in my mind all at the same
time would bog me down—perhaps forever. Listing them and working my way one
item at a time through that list helps me to keep my focus even while dealing
with very complex situations that must be woven in and out through the length
of the novel.

In short, simple lists make the
complex task of writing a novel doable for me. What about you? Do you use lists
in your writing? Are there other tools you use for keeping track and keeping
focused as you plot, write, and revise?

Linda Rodriguez’s three novels published by St. Martin’s
Press featuring Cherokee campus police chief, Skeet Bannion—Every Hidden Fear, Every Broken Trust, and Every
Last Secret—have received critical recognition and awards, such as Latina
Book Club Best Book of 2014, the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery
Novel Award, selections of Las Comadres National Latino Book Club, 2nd
Place in the International Latino Book Awards, finalist for the Premio Aztlán
Award, 2014 ArtsKC Fund Inspiration Award, and Barnes & Noble mystery pick.
Her short story, “The Good Neighbor,” published in the anthology, Kansas City Noir, has been optioned for
film.
For her books of poetry, Skin
Hunger (Scapegoat Press) and Heart’s
Migration (Tia Chucha Press), Rodriguez received numerous awards and
fellowships. Rodriguez is 2015 chair of the AWP Indigenous/Aboriginal American
Writer’s Caucus, past president of the Border Crimes chapter of Sisters in
Crime, a founding board member of Latino Writers Collective and The Writers
Place, and a member of International Thriller Writers, Wordcraft Circle of
Native American Writers and Storytellers, and Kansas City Cherokee Community. Find
her at http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com.