An Interview with Shawn Reilly Simmons by Paula Gail Benson

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Shawn Reilly Simmons has an impressive resume. Born in Indiana, she grew up in Florida and graduated from the University of Maryland with a BA in English. She’s worked as a sales executive, bookstore manager, fiction editor, convention organizer, wine consultant, and caterer. Since 2003, she’s served on the Malice Domestic Board of Directors. Those who have attended the annual meeting near Washington, DC, have seen Shawn calmly overseeing the registration desk or confidently moderating terrific panels. In addition, she’s a founding member of the Dames of Detection and an editor at Level Best Books, which publishes the Best New England Crime Stories Anthologies.

Oh, and did I forget to say that she’s the author of the Red Carpet Catering Mysteries (published by Henery Press) that features Penelope Sutherland, a movie set caterer, and has contributed the short story “A Gathering of Great Detectives” to the Malice Domestic 11: Murder Most Conventional Anthology? Not to mention that she’s Mom to an adorable fellow named Russell.

Obviously, Shawn knows how to prioritize so she gets lots of things done and done well. Many thanks to her for taking time to visit with us and tell us how she manages everything so beautifully.  
Have you always loved writing?
 
Yes! I’ve wanted to be a writer, in some capacity, since I was in
elementary school. I won Best Creative Writer when I graduated from high
school, and I was encouraged by my professors in college to pursue writing as a
career, so it was always an aspiration of mine. The trick was making that
aspiration a reality.
Many of us know you as one of the smiling faces of the Malice Domestic convention.
How did you become involved with Malice?
 
I got involved with Malice when I met Anne Murphy, our Volunteer Chair,
at a panel during Malice 14. She was a Reilly before she was a Murphy, and she
was curious if we were somehow related. Next thing I knew, I was invited to
meet with the Board, and I accepted the vacant PR Chair position the following
year. Fifteen years later, I’m still there, which is crazy–not that I’m still
there, but that so much time has passed. It feels like yesterday! 
How has Malice influenced your writing?
I got involved with Malice because traditional mysteries are my favorite
stories to read, and to write, it turns out. I’ve learned more than I can begin
to say from the authors I’ve met, the friendships I’ve made, and the advice
I’ve been given by so many writers and fans I admire. I think I would still be
writing stories if it weren’t for Malice, but I’d probably be flailing around
trying to find my way.
 
You’ve had many diverse work experiences. How did you start catering for
filmmakers? 
My sister is a chef, and started cooking on movie sets right after
graduating from culinary school. Over the years, I would go and help her in the
kitchen when she needed an extra set of hands. She had transitioned into being
a personal chef and was in between clients when the on-set catering company
she’d previously worked for began filming a movie in the DC area. I was
freelance editing at the time, so we were both available, and were hired to be
part of the crew. Like so many things for me, it was a matter of luck and being
available when different opportunities presented themselves.
Tell us about your protagonist, Penelope. How much of you is in her
character?
 
Penelope Sutherland is chef-owner of Red Carpet Catering, an on-set
movie catering business. She shares a house with her best friend, up-and-coming
actress Arlena Madison, who is one of the many children of acting icon Randall
Madison. Penelope is like me in some ways: she’s loyal, hardworking, and loves
to cook. She’s younger than me, and has a bit more confidence than I did at her
age, which is working out for her so far.
What do you plan for Penelope’s future? 

Penelope is building up her catering business, and she’s going to get
bigger and better opportunities based on her skill and business sense, not just
because she’s along for the ride with the Madison family. She’s going to have
some setbacks too, both personally and professionally, like we all do. Penelope
is also embarking on a romantic relationship with her friend from grade school,
Joseph Baglioni, who also happens to be a Homicide Detective for New Jersey PD.
They both work crazy hours–Penelope is on set sixteen hours a day sometimes,
and is often away on location for months at a time. Penelope and Joey have to
make the time they do have together special, which doesn’t always work out
perfectly, but they’re sticking with it. 
Your novels have been published by two sources. Tell us about your
publication journey. 

I
wrote my first book after I had my son and decided to stay home with him. I
wasn’t sure if I could even write a mystery, or if it would be any good, but I
had my characters set in my mind, and I had never read anything about on-set
catering before, so I felt I had a fresh take on the movie industry. What I
didn’t have was an idea about how to proceed to publication when my manuscript
was finished. I decided to publish through an offshoot of my mother’s
publishing company, mostly for friends and family, and didn’t do much else with
the book after that. To my surprise, people (other than my family) read it and
liked it, and I was approached by an agent (at Malice, of course). She said she
could definitely sell my book to one of the big five publishers, but I had to
write the second one quickly, so they could see I could carry a series. I did
what she asked, and then heard back from the agent that the publisher loved the
idea of working with me, and that I was a strong writer, but that books about
movies hadn’t worked well for them in the past. They wanted me to think of
another series idea and get writing it quickly. 

 

I had just finished my
second book, and was on the fence about what to do. I went the same route as
the first one with it, and began toying with the idea of conceiving a new
series. I basically had to decide whether to abandon Penelope and the gang, who
I had grown to love, or move on to something the editors at the large
publishing house considered more marketable. A few weeks later, I approached
Henery Press (at Malice, of course), and was thrilled that they were interested
in the Red Carpet Catering books. They signed me and I re-wrote the first two
books under the guidance of my editorial team, and wrote the third book (from
scratch). That book is Murder on a Designer Diet, which was just released on
June 7th. I’m so glad I was able to find a welcoming home for Penelope &
Company.

In addition to your delightful series, your short story appears on the
recent Malice anthology. How is writing a short story different from writing a
novel? 

You know, I hadn’t written a short story since college, and hadn’t
thought about writing them seriously. A year or so ago some local friends
hosted a short story pot luck dinner where everyone brought a dish and read an
original story they’d written. I had so much fun coming up with something for
my friends, it got the juices flowing again, and I decided to give the blind submission
for the Malice anthology a try. I was happily surprised that my story was
selected, to say the least. Now I’m working on a few different short stories,
for different projects.
Also, you have a new venture with the Dames of Detection and Level Best
Books. Tell us about this experience, particularly what it’s like to be an
editor. 

Yes! We’re very excited to be the new editors of Level Best Books, which
publishes the annual Best New England Crime Stories anthology. I’d seen a note
on Facebook that the previous editors were planning to release their final
anthology, and that they weren’t continuing the series. The Dames felt the
anthologies are such a great tradition, and so many authors have gotten their
start there, that we decided to approach the previous editors about keeping
them going. Luckily all eight of us agreed to everything, so we transitioned
over this year. Our first anthology, Windward, received 225 submissions, and
we’re just about through our blind evaluation process. We’ll have our final
decisions made by mid-July. Being an editor is very fun, while also a lot of
work. We plan to do at least two anthologies next year, and are all in
agreement to do even more going forward.
How do you balance your many responsibilities and still find time for
writing? 

Some
days are more successful than others! But I do tend to be a scheduler and a
list maker. I work hard to keep everything organized and on track. I get up
early to write, usually at 5. I’m most productive and creative during that
quiet time. Later in the day I’m either working on Malice, editing for the
anthologies I’m involved with, or performing other tasks related to the books.
Then there’s the regular life stuff: being a good wife & mom, managing the
household, getting dinner on the table. And I always make time for myself: I
read every day and get in a workout of some kind. It’s safe to say I’m never
bored!

Does Russell enjoy having a writer for a Mom?
He
does! He says every morning: “Daddy went to work, I’m going to school, and
Mommy works on the computer.” He’s actually started writing stories of his
own–one of his teachers has really been encouraging him at school. We started
reading together every night when he was six weeks old, and by the time he was
3 1/2 he had learned to read, which was so exciting. We still read every
night–it’s such an ingrained habit now, the main part of our bedtime ritual.
We’ve been sick, we’ve gone to bed really late, but no matter what, we always
end the day with a book. 

Shawn, thank you for taking the time to be with us. Check out Shawn’s website at:
http://www.shawnreillysimmons.com/books.html

Taking Care of You!

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Take Care of You! by Debra H.
Goldstein

I am not a good nurse. In fact, I am a b, which rhymes with
witch, but then again I am married to a man who isn’t much of a patient.

Last week, he had arthroscopic surgery on his knee for a
torn meniscus. Note: arthroscopic surgery is not a knee replacement. It hurts,
but not nearly as much as a knee replacement. He gets my sympathy because I
know it hurts and this is the third time in the last fifteen years he has had a
knee scoped (he tore it the first time when he used to run nine miles a day;
the second time during a random stumble; and this time probably being on the
treadmill too much). I did mention that he isn’t a good patient, didn’t I?

Anyway, this was a same day surgery. The entire procedure
took about fifteen minutes – prepping

and post-surgery recovery made up most of
the time he was at the hospital. He came home on a walker (neither of us is
good with crutches) already allowed to be weight bearing as tolerated. At that
point, he collapsed on the bed (after having lunch because he was a bit
hungry).

I dutifully kept his knee iced, brought him drinks and
snacks, and did the things necessary, but after a few days, I was ready for him
to be well or at least a little more self-sufficient. Maybe it is because I can
remember how I was after I had the same surgery. I was groggy the first day,
obedient with my exercises the second day, and pretty much back and going
within a few days. I didn’t have a choice.

Mothers don’t have a choice. We keep on running because
secretly we run the house, the world, our kids, our spouse, and anything else
that needs to be taken care of. We take care of ourselves last. That’s why the
commercials about moms getting sick hit home – the Mom can’t and won’t allow
herself to stop to be sick. Too many people depend upon her.

The best example I’ve seen of this is a film made by the
American Heart Association starring the mom from Modern Family. In the clip,
the obvious working woman is juggling a business call, making her kids lunch,
finding her husband’s tie and getting the children off to school. Suddenly, she
feels tightness in her chest, discomfort, and begins sweating, but she ignores
everything because she is Mrs. Mom. Her ability to spread the peanut butter,
get the kids out the door, put the dishes up, and do other simultaneous chores
deteriorates, but she assures everyone she is fine. Her son doesn’t believe her
and shows her on his phone that she is having the symptoms of a heart attack.
She disagrees. She doesn’t have time for that. He dials 911 and hands her the
phone. While the kids leave for school and the voice says the paramedics will
be there immediately, she looks up from the floor at the now messed up house
and asks, “Could you make it ten minutes, so I can clean up a little?”

It is a classic piece that reminds us we, as women, need to
take care of ourselves. As writers juggling families, households, jobs, social
media and deadlines, we sometimes forget to look in the mirror and say, “I care
about you. I need to stop and take care of you.” Please do! It’s important. Be
a B, with a capital B for yourself. And btw, my husband is doing better and
didn’t even notice (or at least he better not admit if he did) I was being a b,
which rhymes with witch.   

Clicking Our Heels – What We Hate Most About Computers

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Clicking Our Heels –
What We Hate Most About Computers

I’ve had that kind
of day! (Debra speaking) My computer
ate my words written for the day before deciding frozen was the position it
would like to be in. Even though I normally love computers, today, I asked my
fellow Stiletto Gang members “What they
hate most about computers?” Here’s what they said:
Dru Ann Love: The
updates and how it messes with my settings.
Bethany Maines:
The thing I hate most about computers is that I can’t punch them. I want to
start a business selling nerf computer replicas that come with their own
baseball bat.
Juliana Aragon Fatula:
They aren’t faithful. I have a relationship with a new computer on average
about once a year and they are unfaithful and I have to move on and go with a
younger, newer model. Sometimes I hate the fact that they make me want to pick
them p and throw them out the window or at the very least take a stiletto to
the screen.

Kay Kendall: Just
when I get used to and comfy with a program, the company that produces it
changes it radically, then all the PCs move to favoring that, and then I have
to learn the new program. It is invariably trickier and just does more things
that I don’t really need. Annoying!


Jennae M. Phillippe:
The update cycle. I’ll be fresh and excited to start working on a project, turn
on the computer, and have to wait like 20 minutes for the thing to update. Or
worse, I’ll be in mid-project which it does one of those mandatory shut down
thingies. Totally throws me off.


Linda Rodriguez:
I hate that some programs (I’m looking straight at you, Microsoft Word) try to
make decisions for me that I want to make for myself.
Paffi Flood:
Nothing, now that I have an Apple J.


Paula Benson: That computers understand so many things intuitively, except how to fulfill my needs.
Marilyn Meredith:
What I hate most about computers is what I have to learn how to do something
new – which seems to happen too often.

Sparkle Abbey: We
don’t know what we do without computers. We work on them, we write on them and
we use them to keep in touch with each other. We both think we’re pretty
computer savvy, but there have been a couple of times when the computer has
eaten a work in progress or not saved it correctly. That’s frustrating!

New Release from Bethany Maines

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by Bethany Maines
Today is the release date for my new novella – Wild Waters!!  This is my first time doing true romance (sex
scenes – eep!) and I’m very excited for everyone to get a chance to read it!
Purchase Wild Waters at:

Or enter to win a free copy on my website:
WILD WATERS (with Sienna Lance)
His duty. Her secrets. The mission that brings
them together will tear them apart.
In the steamy jungle of 1960’s era Vietnam,
when a team of Navy SEALs are brought together with a pair of reporters, no one
is prepared for the explosive secrets their encounter will reveal. Lt. Ben
Kolley, former WWII frogman, leads one of the first teams of Navy SEALs in 1968
Vietnam. His wild pack of soldiers  have earned their reputations as
“green ghosts” on the Mekong River and none is more elusive than Catch,
the point-man with an uncanny sense of the water. The reporters, a bumbling
drunken writer, and Kahele, a female photographer with a sharp
mind, dark eyes, and an even darker secret are the first allowed to
interview a SEAL team and both are intent on nailing their assignment. But
neither Kahele or Catch are prepared to discover an attraction for each other
that’s like nothing they’ve ever experienced. Soon, Catch is breaking all
the rules to be with her, and Kahele finds herself entangled by a passion
she’s never felt before.  But for Ben, Kahele dredges up horrifying
memories of an old mission – one where not all of his team returned. Can Kahele
be trusted or is she the monster Ben fears? The clock is ticking, and soon all
their lives may depend on Ben’s decisions.  SEALs believe
they can survive anything, but can they survive the truth?

***
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 Vortex of Public Opinion

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by J.M. Phillippe

I have this phrase stuck in my head: “thrust into the vortex of public opinion.” It is a misquote from a long-forgotten class I took while studying journalism. I know it’s a misquote because thanks to that degree (and everything I learned about citing sources), I knew I couldn’t just repeat that phrase and not look it up. Thus, I slid down the Wikipedia rabbit hole on the definitions of libel and defamation, and more specifically, what makes someone a “public figure.” I won’t bore you with the court cases — Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. (1974); Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts (1967); Associated Press v. Walker (1967), and Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988) — or the actual quote (I was pretty darn close for a 15 plus year memory), but why I keep thinking about it: in the modern era of social media, is it time to update the definition? Are we not all, to our friends/fans lists in the hundreds (if not thousands, if your social media game is really on), “thrusting ourselves into the vortex of public opinion”?

Because as various news stories break, everyone seems to jump in to say…something. Sometimes what we say is very personal, and very connected to the big stories trending on Facebook and Twitter. And sometimes we don’t know what to say — so we say that we don’t know what to say. Sometimes we push forward a quote or meme and let that speak for us. But it seems that once we’ve entered these semi-public (or fully public, depending on your privacy settings) spaces, the one thing we can’t do is not say anything at all. Not just writers or journalists or other actual public figures — most everyone seems to feel this need to weigh in, one way or another.

And yet, weighing in is fraught with its own peril, thanks to comment sections and reposts. Many celebrities have learned this the hard way, and none too few private citizens as well, as they have actually been fired over things they have posted. Other people have found friendships ruined over social media posts (with online unfriending translating to real world unfriending), and still others have found themselves living the reality of the quote:

With all of that in mind, I often find myself hesitating before also entering the vortex of public opinion. I have become increasingly aware over the years that we are all on the cusp of being actual public figures — and as a published author, I likely have already, legally speaking, crossed that line. What we say has real world consequences, and the more we enter the public space, the less protection we have thanks to laws designed to preserve freedom of speech.

Even more than the legal ramifications, I worry about becoming a target. Online harassment and cyber-bullying are very real, and if someone garners the attention of certain groups, they may face extreme levels of it, including doxing (having your personal information such as phone numbers and addresses posted online), and even swatting (sending police or other officials to someone’s home through anonymous tips about bomb or other threats).

More, there is that thing that happens where our online interactions with people often out-number our in-person interactions with people, and what you post is also what people assume you are. I often find myself trying to view my various online spaces through the eyes of an outsider and try to figure out who they might think I am. From a marketing standpoint, I want to make sure that my public persona is “on brand.” From a safety standpoint, I want to make sure I am not opening myself up to the vortex, to that crazy unknown where one post or share could send me whirling in a direction I could never have imagined going in. I am responsible for my words, sure, but while I can own my intentions, I have no idea exactly how what I write may impact my readers. More often than not, I find myself not posting anything at all.

But the thing is, a huge part of selling a book is about selling yourself as an author, and not posting doesn’t actually help me. I should post more — I know that. But it’s a scary vortex out there, and I find myself teetering on the edge, hand hovering over my mouse, taking a moment before I hit “post.” Because the Internet never forgets.

***

J.M. Phillippe is the author of Perfect Likeness and the newly released short story The Sight. 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.

A Literary Exercise–Stiletto Style

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by Paula Gail Benson

Each
year in May, Charleston, South Carolina holds its Spoleto Festival–two weeks
of music, theater, dance, and arts, taking place in venues throughout the city.
This year would be special. The Festival planned to present a production of Porgy and Bess, the quintessential
Charleston opera. As part of the celebration for the new production of Porgy, a two-hour walking tour of
Charleston would feature locations that had influenced DuBose Heyward as he
wrote the novel that he and George and Ira Gershwin turned into musical theater.

Walking.
In muggy, humid, 90 plus degree May in Charleston. Hummmm. Sounds like an
intense literary exercise to me.

I
knew this would require training.

My
office was having a fitness program that allowed us to buy Fitbits at reduced
rates. I got one and started counting my steps. That recommended 10,000 a day
was a difficult number to achieve. I was proud on the days I neared 5,000.

It
helped me to stay motivated with a walking program if I had some diversity in
my strolls. I began pondering what might give me some added incentives.

Around
March, I was admiring the Stiletto Gang’s new graphics when it occurred to me
that I had never owned a pair of stilettos. Oh, I’d watched many women perched
on pencil thin stilts. They reminded me of that song from the musical Wicked, “Defying Gravity.”

The
idea of wearing stilettos in public was completely out of the question for me. I
have sufficient embarrassment in life without having the appearance of an inept
circus performer. Besides, I’ve usually got my head involved with so many other
things that having to maintain my balance in anything other than flats would be
multi-task overload. But, it occurred to me that, in the privacy of my own
home, where no one could witness my wobbling, stilettos might be a good form of
exercise.

Exercise?
Stilettos?

Think
about it. To wear stilettos requires poise, confidence, controlling equilibrium,
and focusing upon a change in body centering. Aren’t those the kinds of things
that Yoga and Pilates masters are always emphasizing?

Okay,
so, what does a pair of exercise stilettos look like?

I
suppose some would let that selection speak to their inner wild child and go
with a model they might never in fact wear in public. From careful study of
this matter, let me assure you there are plenty of options for that kind of
expression. Animal skin prints. Psychedelic colors. Lots of possibilities.

But,
I didn’t need to add craziness to my life. I have that in ample degrees. I
needed to add calm stability. At least as steady as one can be teetering on
five inch heels.

Then,
the answer came to me. I’d channel the serenity of the Duchess of Cambridge.

After
she first appeared in her impossibly elegant, goes with everything, nude heels,
they became a fashion sensation. So that is what I acquired. A pair of five-inch
(okay, there is a one-inch platform at the ball of my foot so I’m only really
balancing on four inches) glamorously beige stilettos. They arrived in a
hideously large box. Flats wearers never see shoe boxes of that size. And, when
I opened it to look upon them, well, I thought I understood how climbers must feel
when they stand at the base of Everest—it’s a long way up.

Then,
in my head, I heard Idina Menzel singing from Wicked, “Unlimited. . . . [and nothing’s gonna] bring me down!”
Although, I must admit, it might have been more appropriate for the theme from Frozen (“Let It Go”) to be playing.

With
a great deal less assurance than I felt, I released those monster slippers from
their tissue wrappings and placed them on the floor. Gracefully, I pointed my
toes and eased them into the confines of each pump. Then, taking a deep breath,
I rose to a height I had never experienced before.



At
least, not from the ground.

Now,
the challenge was to take that first step. This was one small step for a woman,
one giant leap for empowerment, and one mind-blowing moment in understanding. Suddenly, I
knew why women put themselves through this torture. To prove they can. To
do all that Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.

So I
began my routine of walking, in my stilettos, down the hall of my home. Not
that I’m ready for a public debut, but I am building my skills.

And,
when I arrived for the Spoleto walking tour. I was ready and finished the
two-hour vigorous course, making it a banner day in my Fitbit history with a
total of 11,412 steps!

The next day, when I
entered Charleston’s magnificent Gaillard Center where Porgy and Bess was presented, I followed a young woman wearing stilettos
up the grand stairway. Smiling, I thought, “Sure, you wear them for dress up,
but do you exercise in them?”

[For more information about my Spoleto experiences, please check out tomorrow’s blog on Writers Who Kill!]

Sparking Your Creativity

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by Linda Rodriguez
As an artist and creative person, I can experience times when I
reach down for ideas, for creative excitement, for images, and come up
temporarily empty. These have usually been times that have combined lots of
creative overwork and lots of business work—taxes, promotion, correspondence,
contracts, freelance editing, etc. This kind of emptiness and feeling
creatively dry can be terrifying, but I’m now used to it, and I know what to do
to refill the well and spark new creativity. In these circumstances, it’s
necessary to take time to do things to build up new creativity energy within
you. So here are ten ideas to get you started.

 Journal Writing—This is the backbone of the creative life,
especially for writers. I’m not necessarily talking about a daily diary. This
is a notebook in which you write about what you see and hear, turning it into
dialogue or sensory description. This is where you can work with writing
prompts from books, workshops, tapes, and DVDs, your version of the pianist’s
daily scales. Set a kitchen timer for a few minutes and do some freewriting to
unload some of the chattering of your surface mind and move into deeper ideas.
Read Poetry—I’m a poet, as well as a novelist, but I’ve been
surprised by how many commercially successful novelists I’ve met who say they
regularly or occasionally read poetry as a springboard for their writing. It
actually makes great sense because the poet deals in imagery, which is the
language of the right (creative) brain.  I
know that, whenever I read poetry, it sets my mind whirling with tons of ideas
and images. I have come up with ideas for entire novels from reading a poem.
Read Something Very Different for You—If you always read and write
poetry, check out a popular novel. If you’re a mystery reader, take a look at
what science fiction writers are coming up with. If you read and write literary
fiction, pick up a romance novel. Jog your mind from its habitual ruts of
thinking and imagining. Stretch out of your comfort zone. Even if you don’t
like what you read, it should still shake up your mind enough to start
generating ideas, images, and characters.
Singlehanded Brainstorming—Most of us have been taught how to do
and forced to sit through group brainstorming sessions before. Take those
techniques and a sheet of paper with pen (or iPad or laptop), get comfortable,
set a timer again, and start throwing out ideas at top speed. Same rules as
with the group process. You can’t disqualify any idea, no matter how
unrealistic. You want to generate as many ideas as you can as quickly as you
can. Just list them down the page—or even use a voice recorder to capture them.  After the timer goes off, you
can go down the list considering the possibilities you’ve listed. Look for
possibilities to combine aspects of ideas. Write down any new ideas that get
sparked by your consideration of the ideas already down on the page. Choose one
or two promising (or least abhorrent) ideas and freewrite about them in your
journal.
Making Lists—I love listmaking. Make lists of ideas, of
characters, of backgrounds you’d like to use someday, of isolated bits of
dialogue or description, of actions you’d like to see a character to take. My
favorite is to write a list of scenes I’d like to read—exciting scenes,
action-filled scenes, emotional scenes, surprising scenes, suspenseful scenes.
They don’t have to have anything to do with any project you’re working on or
any character you are writing or have written. They just need to be scenes
you’d love to read—because scenes you’d love to read are scenes you’d love to
write.
Visit a Museum, Gallery, Play, Film, Concert—We writers live and
breathe words. Sometimes we need to get out of our heads and see or hear art
that isn’t primarily word-based. It can be especially fruitful to go to a film
in a language you don’t understand or an art exhibit of a kind you know nothing
about. When we have no words to use to explain or understand what we’re seeing,
our brains are kicked into another mode of functioning that can become quite
generative. Wander around a gallery or museum and take in the colors and
shapes. Sit in a concert hall or movie theater and let the music or film engulf
you completely, washing through your brain. Come out seeing or hearing in a
slightly different mode.
Draw, Paint, Knit, Spin, Sew—Even better than looking at art is
making it. Sink your hands into clay or fiber. Splash ten different colors next
to each other, taking note of the changes each new color creates. Feel the
texture of the fabric, thread, yarn, fiber as you work with it to make
something new. Take a penciled line and see what you can create with it. All of
this also kicks in the right brain, the imagistic, creative part of us. Stay in
beginner mind without worrying how “good” your art will be. This is—and should
be—play, completely carefree and innocent.
Go for a Walk—Physical exercise is always a good thing for us
sedentary word slugs, but even more important than its many health benefits are
the creative benefits of simply moving your body through space. As you move
around, your brain begins to get unstuck and to move, as well. A nice, long
walk outdoors (preferably in scenic surroundings) can often jumpstart the
solution to a creative dry spell. Sometimes a sterile period can arise from
being overstressed. Walks are one of the best ways to counter such stress and
relax the mind and body.
Arrange Flowers/Rearrange Some Belongings—In the Chinese art of
feng shui, rearranging 27 items will start stuck soul energy flowing again.
Moving belongings into new configurations, trying for a more pleasing pattern,
has long been a cure for the blues and the blahs. We are pattern-recognizing and
pattern-creating organisms. To change the habitual patterns that surround us
charges us with new energy.  A
smaller, simpler version of this is to gather or buy some flowers and assemble
them into flower arrangements that please our aesthetic sensibilities. Spending
a little time in creating pleasing, artistic arrangements of flowers or
accessories will provide a creative boost to stuck energies.

Go to Lunch with a Creative Friend or Two—Everyone has one or more
friends or acquaintances who are creative sparklers. Like the child’s fireworks
favorite, they give off showers of sparks, or creative ideas, constantly. They
are positive and upbeat and always focused on possibilities. Spending some time
with them will leave you filled with ideas, energy, and excitement. It’s always
worthwhile to give them a call and set up a relaxed lunch in a nice place.
Rather than complain about how dry and sterile things are for you right at the
moment, ask them what’s new with them and what they see as possibilities for
the future.  As they take
off shooting into the blue yonder, follow them wholeheartedly and build on all
their ideas. You’ll walk away at the end of lunch with a big smile on your face
and a bunch of ideas bubbling in your unconscious. Cherish these friends, even
if they are unrealistic and immature. Their wild, creative energy is invaluable
when your own has temporarily deserted you.
One or more of these ten methods should start your creative powers
working once again. I’ve never had to go through more than a couple of these at
a time to get my creative mojo stirring. Post this list near your desk, and
don’t spend any time or energy bewailing it when a creative dry spell hits.
Just reach for this and try whichever of these ideas looks most appealing at
the time. If the first doesn’t completely prime your creative pump, move to
another of them. Creativity never leaves, but sometimes it needs a spark to
start the engine running again. So spark your creativity!

Linda Rodriguez’s third Skeet Bannion novel, Every Hidden Fear, was a selection of
the Las Comadres National Latino Book Club and a Latina Book Club Best Book for
2014. Her second Skeet mystery, Every
Broken Trust, was a selection of Las Comadres National Latino Book Club, International
Latino Book Award, and a finalist for the Premio Aztlan Literary Prize. Her
first Skeet novel, Every Last Secret,
won the St. Martin’s/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel
Competition and an International Latino Book Award. Her short story, “The Good
Neighbor,” has been optioned for film. Find her on Twitter as @rodriguez_linda,
on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LindaRodriguezWrites,
and on her blog http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com.

When the Malbec grapes go missing…there’s mayhem.

/in /by
Release day for an
author is worse than the first day at a new school. Will anyone like it? Review
it? Want to take it home for a play date?

I threw an extra dose of nervousness into the mix because my novella, Malbec Mayhem, really isn’t a mystery.

“Don’t confuse your readers—they expect a consistent brand.” Yeah, the conventional wisdom wasn’t droning in my ear when I wrote the novella. (Bites fingernails.)

“Don’t worry,” one beta reader said. “It’s a great story.”

“Is that blood pouring into the glass?” another asked about the cover.

Yikes! (Reaches for a glass of Malbec.)


Deep breath.

So, Visiting Reader: Pour yourself a virtual glass of wine and read along. Malbec may not be as well known as reds like cabernet, merlot or pinot noir, but that’s changing fast.

Here’s some backstory: Malbec originated in southwest France and served mainly as a blending grape to enhance other red wines’ flavor. (It’s one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine.) Weather and insects nearly wiped it out in Europe when frost and root rot killed most of the vines. Fortunately for us, the grapes found a new home in Argentina. Most of the Malbec on the market today still originates there. Recently, vintners in Washington state have planted the grapes and found it thrives in eastern Washington’s higher elevations and dry climate. These vineyards have the hot days and cool nights necessary for the grapes to produce more acidity, which means great tasting wine.

A crowd-pleaser—easy to drink, with a ton of juicy fruit flavors—some people love to call Malbec a working man’s Merlot, since the wine has many of the characteristics that make Merlot easy to drink, with an added spice and acidity that makes it seem less polished.

I loved this line I found on a wine buying website: “Malbec is the guy who rides the Harley to Merlot’s guy that drives the Vespa.”


Have you tried Malbec? What’s your favorite red wine?


When the Malbec grapes go missing…there’s mayhem.


Successful restaurateur Alex Montoya’s charmed life has hit a snag. His trusted business partner turned out to be not exactly trustworthy, and Alex could be facing jail time over some of his partner’s shady financial deals. As if that weren’t bad enough, creditors are calling in loans he didn’t know he had and he’s desperate to prove his innocence before all his businesses are repossessed.

After a career-building stint in Napa Valley, Sofia Pincelli has returned home to eastern Washington to take over the family’s winery. Running the family business, however, means dealing with her ailing father’s continued micro-management—and his disapproval of Alex. Her father’s condemnation of Alex’s rumored involvement in his business partner’s schemes runs so deep, it threatens Alex and Sofia’s blossoming romance…along with the Pincelli family’s signature red wine. Sofia needs Alex’s crop of Malbec grapes to show her father she has what it takes to make award-winning wine—and save the reputation and finances of the Pincelli winery.

When the Malbec grapes go missing, Alex and Sofia must join forces to find the fruit before it spoils—or risk destroying both of their businesses and their hearts.


Special release week price!

Cathy Perkins started writing when recurring characters and dialogue populated her day job commuting daydreams. Fortunately, that first novel lives under the bed, but she was hooked on the joy of creating stories. When not writing, she can be found doing battle with the beavers over the pond height or setting off on another travel adventure. Born and raised in South Carolina, she now lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.

You can also visit her online at the following places:
 Website | Facebook | Twitter| Goodreads


How Mad Men in the Not-so-good-ole Days Made Women Mad Too

/in /by

By Kay Kendall


The
advent of Mad Men on television marked
the return of the 60s to the popular consciousness. Before that, the tumultuous
decade of the 1960s had a bad rep. It was a divisive time, and people were sick
of it. The go-go economy of the 1980s buried “radical chic” in piles of money, and
even some famous 60s activists switched to making a buck, big time.

Mad Men on TV was soon followed by fashion trends. Today retro-hippie
clothes and accessories are back with a vengeance. I’ve purchased three items
with long suede fringe—stockpiling against the day when fringe falls out of
style again.

Yet
it’s not just 60s fashion that lures me in. I am a fan of that benighted
decade. Even before Mad Men hit TV in
2007, I was writing my first mystery set in the 60s. I was following that old
maxim, “Write what you know.” As a child of the 60s I had stories to tell.

I also
believe that an author should write what she loves—and my favorite books are
historical mysteries. I chose my time period guided by the many authors who
locate their sleuths and spymasters during the wars of the 20th century. The
two world wars and the Cold War are overrun with novels. The war in Vietnam,
however, was such a debacle that few want to see it on the big or little screen
or read about it in books. Still, it was a comparatively empty niche that I
thought needed filling with mysteries. My books show the life of a young woman
named Austin Starr—not the radical type who made headlines, the Hanoi Janes or
Angela Davises—but a moderate swept along by history’s tides. All that turmoil
lends itself to drama, intrigue, and murder.
Rainy Day Women is set in August 1969, in the days between the
Charles Manson killings in Los Angeles and the big rock festival in Woodstock—one
she had hoped to attend. Instead, Austin flies to the West Coast, where she pursues
her knack for solving mysteries, built on her CIA training and inspired by countless
Nancy Drew books she read as a child. Austin tries to absolve a dear friend
accused of killing a feminist leader and is drawn into the movement. As she
learns about it, she learns more about herself.
Second-wave
feminism is the backdrop for the story, and Rainy
Day Women is set against the historical details of the period. Though that
time is long gone, I “bring it all back home” again.* Some details are technological—the
endless searching for a much-needed payphone, the need to solve a crime without
using CSI-style techniques—and establish how much change our everyday lives
have witnessed. Other details are astonishing yet real—notably the casual but
overbearing sexist attitudes of way too many men in the book. But that
particular kind of madness led to rising anger among women. And then to a whole
movement. 
*******

Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, ca. 1965

NOTE:
Bringing It All Back Home is a Bob
Dylan album from 1965, including such masterpieces as “Subterranean Homesick Blues,”
“Mr. Tambourine Man,” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” Some literary critics
compare Dylan to Shakespeare. I don’t go quite so far but am a staunch fan.
That’s why I name my mysteries after his song titles. His work is so vast
in scope that his song titles cover every eventuality in fiction
that I could ever dream up. His attitudes toward women as portrayed in his
lyrics are sexist—true—but he was a man of his times. That’s the best excuse I
can make for him, and he certainly fits my material.

Kay
Kendall lives in Texas with her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel
Wills. In her former life as a PR executive, Kay’s projects won international
awards. And she studied lots and lots of history in school, and loves it still!

  

3 Lessons Learned about Fitness from a Recent Novel

/in /by

By AB Plum
On my January 5th
morning walk, I dodged an oncoming car. I banged into a cement barrier, broke 4
toes, sprained my ankle, and bruised a tendon. During the slow recovery—no
weight-bearing exercise—I read a lot. The book I was looking forward to the
most proved the most disappointing.
Why?
Maybe I was grumpy from
being confined to a wheelchair for a month and wanted some vicarious exercise.
I could’ve chosen from an array of main female characters who swim, row, box,
jog, hike, climb rock walls, practice Tai’chi, and a myriad of other physical
activities.
Instead, I selected a
bestseller in which one of the main characters exercised by eating too many
potato chips and pizza.  She played
basketball as a teenager, but Life 101 intervened and    . . .
okay, I got it. I was, after all,  reading her story because of Life 101.
But here’s one lesson I
learned:  Authors should avoid putting a
woman with the fitness level of 0 in a series of scenes where she’s drugged,
kept in a car trunk unconscious, breaks her collarbone, fights mano a mano with
the bad guy, and wins. Compared to this character, I’d suffered no physical
impairment—yet I could barely walk after weeks of taking care of my
injuries.  Did the Author really want me
to suspend logic?
Yes, adrenaline propels
us to lift cars and other Herculean feats in emergencies, but c’mon.
Second lesson
learned:  Authors lose the hard-earned
loyalty of their fans with this kind of character portrayal.  I’ve read everything this author has
published, but I’ll think twice about buying her next book.
There’s at least one
other lesson here:  The big-time critics
gave this book rave reviews. Across the board. I should’ve read the reader
reviews.  No matter what, we writers
cannot fool our audience.
By the way, I think the
same lessons apply to male characters who somehow morph into Superman. I just
didn’t read any of those while waiting to begin my morning walks again.
What about you? Are you
more forgiving of an author’s over-the-top characterization for the sake of
entertainment? Do you have favorite heroines who exercise regularly?



AB Plum writes psychological suspense about jealousy, revenge, and murder. Her newest novella, The MisFit, is coming soon.