Latina Mystery Writers by Juliana Aragon Fatula

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Dear Reader,

Recently, I did a google search for Latina women mystery writers. I’m sure there are more that I don’t know about but I’d like to introduce you writers Lucha Corpi, Linda Rodriguez, and Maria Nieto. In my search, I discovered we are a rare. These women are award winners and I have learned a great deal from these master storytellers. 

Linda Rodriguez

Lucha Corpi

Maria Nieto interview

Kathryn Lane

They are the writers who led the way for me to become a Latina mystery writer and I thank them for breaking the barriers for women to write about Latina Private Investigators and Detectives.

During this time of global pandemic and racial unrest in our country, I’d like you to read some fiction and be entertained by these writers who have witnessed and lived through the civil rights movements. They write about what they experienced through their characters and tell the story of their protagonist’s struggles in times of racial inequality. These women have been my teachers and while reading their novels I’ve learned how to represent my protagonists as proud, competent, private investigators. 

I’m happy to write about a new day, a new time in history where we have our first woman of color to be inaugurated as V.P. of the U.S. It’s time for a change in the history books to see more than just a bunch of old, white-haired men leading our country. It’s time for diversity. 

And Now for Something Completely Different…

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By Lois Winston 

With only a few breaks, my life since late 2009 has been consumed by Anastasia Pollack, the reluctant amateur sleuth of my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. That’s when I signed a contract for the first three books in the series, the first of which debuted in 2011. In 2013, the publisher and I couldn’t come to mutually acceptable terms for more Anastasia books and a second series, The Empty Nest Mysteries. I turned down both contracts and decided to indie publish. Ever since, it’s been all-Anastasia, all the time, with one exception.

 

In 2015 I was invited to take part in a new venture from Amazon. Kindle Worlds was a foray into fan fiction where anyone could write novellas that tied into handpicked existing series. To get the project up and running, Amazon invited additional authors, many recommended by the series authors, to create the first novellas. 

 

There were few rules we had to follow in creating these companion novellas. Authors could use as little or as much of the existing series world as they wanted. We could even change the tone of the original books in the series.

 

I was asked to write a novella based on author CJ Lyons’ Shadow Ops Series. CJ writes what she calls “Thrillers with Heart.” I write humorous amateur sleuth/cozy mysteries. No problem. Mom Squad reimagined her domestic thriller series as a humorous caper.

 

The Kindle Worlds program disbanded a few years later. The novella authors were allowed to republish their work as long as they received permission from the series author and all references to the original series were removed or changed.

 

I’m not the fastest writer, and Anastasia tends to keep me busy. I finally got around to updating my novella a few months ago after the release of A Sew Deadly Cruise, the ninth and latest Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery. However, I held off publishing the novella so it wouldn’t compete with the release of that book. 

 

Mom Squad was expanded and rebranded as Moms in Black, a Mom Squad Caper. The book is more tongue-in-cheek humorous romantic suspense than cozy mystery. If the novella does well, I plan to write two more Mom Squad Caper novellas for a 3-novella series.

 

Moms in Black

A Mom Squad Caper

 

When Cassandra Davenport applies for a job at www.savingtheworld.us, she expects to find a ‘green’ charity. Instead, she becomes the newest member of a covert organization run by ex-government officials. Dubbed the Mom Squad, the organization is the brainchild of three former college roommates—attorney general Anthony Granville, ex-FBI agent Gavin Demarco, and tech billionaire Liam Hatch—all of whom have lost loved ones at the hands of terrorists. Financed by Hatch, they work in the shadows and without the constraints of congressional oversight, reporting directly to Granville.

 

Demarco heads up one of the six groups that comprise the new operation. He hires Cassandra as the newest member of his New Jersey based team. In the course of monitoring possible terrorist threats, the Mom Squad discovers a link to Cassandra’s ex-husband. Before she’s fully trained, Cassandra is thrust into a world where her ex may be involved with radicalized terrorists bent on killing as many Americans as possible.


And while they’re saving the world from an imminent attack, what in the world will Cassandra do about all that sexual tension simmering between her and her new boss?


Click here to read an excerpt.

 

Buy Links (pre-order now; available 2/8/21)

Kindle 

Kobo 

Nook 

Apple Books 

Paperback (coming soon)


USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

Social Media Musings

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By Lynn McPherson

Everyone knows the beast that is social media. It’s everywhere. How can an author manage the good, the bad, and the ugly? Today, let’s look at how to find a balance.

Let’s start at the beginning. Why use it?

There are lots of reasons social media is worthwhile. To begin with, it can help sell books. By having an active and interactive online presence, people get to know you and what you write. It is an opportunity to introduce the world to what’s important to you. If you focus on subjects and topics that align with the themes in your book, you can help build your brand–and your audience.

Next, it is a way to be part of a (virtual) community. Social media gives authors a way to connect with their peers–other authors, booksellers, librarians, industry folks, and readers. You can stay at home and still interact with likeminded people. Finding a connection with others is what life is all about.

Finally, it can be a way to learn. Why not take the opportunity to improve your craft with tips and tidbits from quality sources–from Youtube videos created by literary agents, to author interviews, to informative podcasts from industry insiders–it’s all there for the taking. Want to know about industry pitfalls? Find out manuscript wishlists from agents? Get advice on how to improve your writing? If you look around, there are gems to be found.

So, with all these great benefits, why not be connected all the time? Because you need to write.

Social media can be like a black hole, taking up minutes, hours, or even days. It is important to be aware of how much time and thought you are spending online. If you often find yourself distracted by it, maybe you should consider removing it from your laptop or desktop–whatever you use to write. If you are getting popups and alerts, you will be constantly interrupted, making it difficult to immerse yourself into your fictional world. Another option is to set specific times you go online. Fifteen minutes in the morning and a half hour at night, for example. Whatever works for you. Just make sure it doesn’t use up the time and energy you need to write.

How much time to you spend on social media? Do you find it a worthwhile use of your time?

Lynn McPherson has worked for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, ran a small business, and taught English across the globe. She has travelled the world solo where her daring spirit has led her to jump out of airplanes, dive with sharks, and learn she would never master a surfboard. She now channels her lifelong love of adventure and history into her writing, where she is free to go anywhere, anytime. Her cozy series has three books out: The Girls’ Weekend Murder and The Girls Whispered Murder, and The Girls Dressed For Murder.  

A Musical Trend in Crime Fiction Anthologies

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by Paula Gail Benson

Recently, I’ve noticed a number of short story anthologies organized
around the songs of a particular artist, group, or time period. Here’s a list
of a few that are published or pending and two story calls:

Published
Anthologies:


Murder-a-Go-Go’s:
Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of the Go-Go’s, edited by Holly West
(Down and Out Books, 2019) features stories by twenty-five authors, including
Lisa Alber, Susanne Calkins, Jen Conley, Lori Rader-Day, Hillary Davidson, Greg
Herren, Travis Richardson, and Holly West. The forward is written by Jane
Wiedlen, co-founder of the Go-Go’s. Net proceeds benefit Planned Parenthood.


The Beat of Black
Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell, edited by Josh
Pachter (Untreed Reads, 2020) has contributions from twenty-eight authors,
including “Both Sides Now,” the first literary collaboration by husband and
wife Art Taylor and Tara Laskowski, both multiple award winners, and Donna
Andrews, Michael Bracken, Brendan DuBois, Edith Maxwell, Alison McMahan, and Stacy
Woodson.

I’ve read that Josh Pachter also is working on an anthology
featuring Billy Joel’s songs.


Peace, Love, and
Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by Songs of the ‘60s, edited by Sandra Murphy
(Untreed Reads, 2020) contains twenty-three stories by well-known short story
authors including Earl Staggs (to whom the book is dedicated), Terrie Farley
Moran, Merrillee Robson, Claire A. Murray, Michael Bracken, Maddi Davidson,
Josh Pachter, and John Floyd.

Calls for
Submissions

Fahrenheit Press is putting together Gabba Gabba Hey: A Ramones Anthology. The deadline for submissions
is February 28, 2021. For more information, click on this
link.

Triangle
Sisters in Crime (North Carolina Chapter) has a call for submissions for its
new anthology Carolina Crimes: 20 Tales of Rock, Roll, and Ruin. To enter, you
must be a Sisters in Crime member and resident of North Carolina or South
Carolina. The deadline is April 1, 2021. For information, click on this link. 

Behind the Magic Curtain – by T. K. Thorne

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Writer, humanist,
          dog-mom, horse servant and cat-slave,
       Lover of solitude
          and the company of good friends,
        New places, new ideas
           and old wisdom.

 

 

Four men who loved the city of Birmingham, Alabama asked me to write a
book. I look back on that day when I met them in the high-rise office
of a prominent attorney. They were all strangers, decades older. They
had lived through “pivotal nation-changing days.”
Three of them had been in the thick of happenings.  

As I sat at the polished hardwood table, I thought possibly they assumed
I was a scholar of civil rights because I had recently written a book
about the investigation of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that
killed four young black girls in Birmingham in 1963 (Last Chance for Justice),
but to my surprise, the gentleman who invited me to that meeting said
he had done so because of a totally different book, a historical novel
set thousands of years in the past in ancient Turkey (Noah’s Wife).
I had to ask him why he thought that qualified me. He said, “If you
could write a book about Noah’s wife and make me believe that was what
really happened, then you can tell the true stories of what happened
here.” 

To say I was reticent was an understatement. What they were asking me to
do seemed a huge commitment, and so much had been documented about the
era, what could I possibly add? Then one of the men sent me his notes
about a day in 1962 when he pushed through the double glass doors of The Birmingham News, weary from an all-night stakeout with police, and
his eccentric, powerful boss shouted for him to join him for breakfast.
What was said at that breakfast changed a young reporter’s life and
affected the tangled web of history.  

I was hooked.

After the better part of a decade, it is done. Regretfully, three of the fine gentlemen who trusted me to write this did not live to see it. I only hope I have been true to their vision.

 

 

What folks are saying:

Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham’s Civil Rights Days is a remarkable look at a historic city enmeshed in racial tensions, revealing untold or forgotten stories of secret deals, law enforcement intrigue, and courage alongside pivotal events that would sweep change across the nation.

T. K. Thorne has hit another home run with Behind the Magic Curtain. For five and a half decades we have read accounts of the civil rights era in Birmingham and Selma written by those with a particular ax to grind. Thorne is an excellent reporter, recognizing the nuances that “outsiders” or opinionated writers could not see or chose to overlook. Her reading and especially her interviews over the past several years have been remarkable, allowing her to give far more accurate details than we have seen before. For those who want to know the secrets of what really went on behind the “magic curtain” in those pivotal nation-changing days, days that brought the Civil Rights Bill in 1964 and the Voting Rights Bill in 1965, this is an important book to read.
—Douglas M. Carpenter, Retired Episcopal minister and son of Alabama’s Episcopal Bishop, C. C. J. Carpenter.

In Behind the Magic Curtain, T. K. Thorne introduces us to
those who operated behind the scenes in the civil rights movement in
Alabama, shedding light on the individual moral complexities of these
participants—some firebrands, some reluctant players, and some predators
who worked for their own gain. This journalistic exploration of a
complicated time in Alabama’s social history will sit comfortably on the
shelf next to histories by Dianne McWhorter, Glenn Eskew, and Taylor
Branch. — Anthony Grooms, author of Bombingham and The Vain Conversation

Deeply engaging, Behind the Magic Curtain tells a forgotten part of the Birmingham story, prompting many “real time memories” for me. The lively and descriptive writing brought the characters and settings to life, while diving into the white community’s role in all its complexities. This is a treasure trove of stories about activities and perspectives not well known to the general public. In particular, journalist Tom Lankford’s sleuthing and the machinations of the Birmingham Police Department, along with the risk-averse role of the local newspapers, and a full blown portrait of the inscrutable Birmingham News VIP, Vincent Townsend, make for a fascinating read.
—Odessa Woolfolk, educator, community activist, and founding president of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

“T.K. writes like a seasoned news editor, meticulously hunting down facts and laying out the context in a colorful, intriguing way. Behind the Magic Curtain documents many untold stories and faithfully relates my own personal, unforgettable memories of a time of racial transition in Birmingham.”
—Tom Lankford, journalist for The Birmingham News

 “Novelist and former Birmingham Police Captain T.K. Thorne demonstrates
there was more to Birmingham of the Civil Rights Era than Bull Connor,
Klansmen, and African-American protestors.  Behind that “Magic Curtain,”
an ethnically diverse group from downtown to the surrounding bedroom
communities of ministers, priests, rabbis, newspaper reporters, and
housewives comprised a community belying monikers like ‘Bomingham’ and
‘Murder Capital of America,’ and fighting for justice in the Magic
City.”
—Earl Tilford, author of Turning the Tide: The University of Alabama in the 1960s

 Available for Pre-order now!

NewSouth Books
Amazon.com
BarnesandNoble.com


T.K. is a retired police captain who writes books, which, like this blog, go wherever her interest and imagination take her.  More at TKThorne.com


Create Some Mayhem!

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Create Some Mayhem!

By Cathy Perkins


Malbec Mayhem has joined the world!


Usually when an author releases a new book, it’s nerves and
excitement and a ton of planning and nerves…

Did I mention it can be nerve-wracking? Will people like the
book I spent however many months writing? Will they “get” the characters, the
theme…

Will they hate it?

Will my publisher look at the numbers and tell me to go
away?

Malbec Mayhem is nerve-wracking for me because it’s a little
different. It’s a novella, revolving around one of the secondary characters in
the Holly Price series. Alex had been bugging me for ages to give him a second chance—and
this story is his opportunity to grow up and get things right. The mystery takes a back seat to the grown up version of coming of age. 

Whew! Most readers enjoy it:

5 Stars: “Alex get a second chance at love,
but in fighting for what matters most he discovers his truest self.”

5 Stars: “Perkins … successfully develops her
characters and put more than enough twists and turns into its pages.”

Double whew! 

Now to tamp down the rest of those nerves!

Malbec 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 constant 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.

 

Want a copy? Get it from your favorite retailer:

Amazon                      https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GNHM2AE 

B&N                           https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/malbec-mayhem-cathy-perkins/1128809421

Kobo                           https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/malbec-mayhem-1

D2D                            https://books2read.com/u/38g2jB

Apple                          https://books.apple.com/us/book/malbec-mayhem/id1543804593

 

Prefer a paper copy? 

Amazon                      https://www.amazon.com/dp/1942003064

B&N                           https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/malbec-mayhem-cathy-perkins/1128809421

 

Want to learn more about the
series?

Jump over here:          https://cperkinswrites.com/books/the-holly-price-mystery-series/


An award-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes twisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When not writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or heads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.  Visit her at http://cperkinswrites.com or on Facebook 

Sign up for her new release announcement newsletter in either place.

She’s hard at work on Peril in the Pony Ring, the sequel to The Body in the Beaver Pond, which was recently presented with the Killer Nashville’s Claymore Award. 

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Let’s Hear It for Virtual Everything!

by Saralyn Richard 


The year 2020 will go down in history for a lot of
negative things, but one silver lining for me has been the proliferation of
virtual meetings. Prior to 2020, I had used FaceTime to visit with far-flung
family, but in the past year I have elevated virtual meetings to a regular
staple on every day’s menu of activities, both personal and business.

Here are a few of the ways I have used FaceTime, Zoom,
Microsoft, Eventbrite, and other platforms to stay connected with important
people in my life:

  • ·        
    I teach my classes in creative writing and
    literature for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
  • ·        
    I attend meetings and conferences
    sponsored by writers’ organizations.
  • ·        
    I meet with book clubs all over the
    country.
  • ·        
    I meet with readers who subscribe to my
    monthly newsletter.
  • ·        
    I attend classes to improve my craft.
  • ·        
    I participate in writers’ critique group
    meetings.
  • ·        
    I meet with my publisher and other
    authors.
  • ·        
    I attend religious services and funerals.
  • ·        
    I attend birthday parties and other
    celebrations.
  • ·        
    I have certain medical appointments.

Most of these events have had more participation from
people located all over the world than ever would have been possible in person.

Earlier this month, I had a new book released, A MURDER
OF PRINCIPAL. Thanks to Rachele Baker at 
Authors Live! Online, I was able to have a celebratory virtual book
launch party that was almost as good as being there. (If you’re interested, contact Rachele at https://www.authorsliveonline.com/learn-more-about-our-services-for-authors.) A few bookstores have
offered to host virtual book events, too. Except for autographing and giving
hugs, there isn’t much the virtual events leave out compared to in-person
events. And there are advantages in being able to attend from the comfort of
home, both for attendees and hosts.


I often think of how isolated people must have been
during pandemics prior to the internet. I’m grateful, if I had to live through
such a long time socially distanced, that I can talk face-to-face with people
as easily as clicking on a link.

Whenever we go back to in-person meetings, I’ll be
among the first to kick up my stilettos, but for some things, I hope we are able to
keep our virtual meetings, as well. Meanwhile, I wish each of you a happy new year with good health, much joy, and lots of personal connections, virtual and otherwise.

Want to connect with Saralyn virtually? Subscribe to
her monthly newsletter or contact her at http://www.saralynrichard.com.

 

 

A New Story for the New Year

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by Paula Gail Benson

I felt very privileged and humbled last year when I learned
my “Cosway’s Confidence” had received second place in the Bethlehem Writers’
Group’s 2020 short story contest. I have a special fondness for this Group.
Seven years ago, my first published story appeared online in the Bethlehem
Writers’ Roundtable. That same year, my “Long in the Tooth” placed third in the
short story contest, with Hank Phillippi Ryan as the celebrity judge.

Currently, “Cosway’s Confidence” is one of the featured
stories in the online publication, the Bethlehem Writers’ Roundtable. Debra
Goldstein’s “Wabbit’s Carat,” an honorable mention winner in the contest, also
appears in the issue.

Submissions for the 2020 contest had to be about animals.
My friends’ ferret Maggie was the initial inspiration for my story, but I
wanted to distinguish the ferret I wrote about, to give that animal an
unexpected quality.

I remembered having a discussion with a student who worked
in our office about her difficulty in obtaining the paperwork she needed to
have an emotional support animal in her dorm. I wondered, what if a person with
a support animal tried to get a job with a restaurant? Would there be any way that
person could bring the animal to work?

Thus was born Cosway, an imaginary emotional support ferret.
And, thus also arose the dilemma for my protagonist, Arleen Schuster, a private
cook opening her own café: how could she refuse to hire her best catering
customer’s nephew who carried his imaginary emotional support ferret in his backpack?

If you would like to see how Arleen handles this problem and
several others, here’s the link.

While writing the story, it occurred to me that imaginary
creatures had provided opportunities to demonstrate courage and build
confidence throughout the ages. Here’s a list of ten that I’ve found
intriguing:

(1)   
Dragons: I’d hope they might be more friendly
than ferocious, but they certainly have offered challenges from St. George to Harry
Potter.

(2)   
Unicorns: Gentle, yet elusive, these creatures
have graced tapestries as well as poems. Unicorn horns and blood are strong
protectants, but harming a unicorn may cause a person to be cursed.

(3)   
Hippogriffs, like Buckbeak in Harry Potter
and the Prisoner of Azkaban, can be arrogant, but, if treated with
courtesy, are great allies for a quick getaway.

(4)   
Gremlins originally took the blame for mischievous
malfunctions in WWII aircraft, but they now have infiltrated more mechanical
devices, particularly computers.

(5)   
Leviathans are mentioned in biblical passages as
well as ancient sailors’ tales. These sea serpents, sometimes associated with
whales or crocodiles, have a more ominous presence than their cousin Nessie in
Loch Ness, Scotland.

(6)   
Bigfoot, Sasquatch, King Kong, the Abominable—large,
ape-like, wild, and hairy—yet in so many stories, they convert from menace to semi-friend.
Sort of and sometimes.

(7)   
Phoenixes have long lives that end in flames
before miraculously regenerating from the ashes. A phoenix is featured on San
Francisco’s flag, in commemoration of rebuilding after the 1906 earthquake.

(8)   
South American legends describe encantados, or
shape-shifting dolfins, also called dolphin men or weredolphins. Reminds me of
a scene from Sharyn McCrumb’s If I Killed Him When I Met Him.

(9)   
The jackalope, a rabbit with antelope horns, is
familiar throughout the American west, but the Swedish Skvader was constructed by a
taxidermist in 1918 and is on display in a museum in Sundsvall. It is part hare
and part wood grouse, a semi-reality of a creature from a hunting tale.

(10)Sobek, the mythological Egyptian
crocodile god, who was powerful, yet unpredictable. Anthropologists have studied
small, sealed messages left for Sobek to understand ancient Egyptian culture.

Do you have an imaginary animal that’s intrigued you?

 

Has the Pandemic Changed Your Reading Habits?

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 By Shari Randall

Mystery is my genre of choice, but lately I’ve noticed a change in my reading habits. Maybe it’s the pandemic, politics, or the general ragged state of the world, but I’ve found solace in another genre: Horror.

 

Yep, horror.  It says a lot about the state of the world that I’ve found escape in a vampire saga and a ghost story/serial killer novel: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires and The Sun Down Motel. Why is this? Maybe it’s the satisfaction of closing the book, trapping the frights within the covers. There’s no such thing as vampires, right? Though to be honest, the dread and suspense created by The Sun Down Motel did cost me more than a few hours’ sleep. 

 

Both books are bestsellers but The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires included violence toward children, which is a nonstarter for me, and I wish the book had struck more of the sprightly tone of its title.

 

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James, on the other hand, delivered more than promised by its prosaic title. Twenty-year-old Carly Kirk’s beautiful Aunt Viv went missing in 1982, and Carly retraces Viv’s steps thirty years later to appropriately named Fell, New York to discover what happened to her. Carly believes that by following in her aunt’s footsteps, working the night shift at the seedy Sun Down Motel, she’ll find the answer. She finds the answer and much more.

Has the pandemic changed your reading habits?

The Accent Mark Goes Here

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 by Bethany Maines

You know how Madonna now talks with a British accent?  And everyone kind of mocks her?  It is annoying to have someone you know grew
up in Michigan try and sound all posh, but at the same time… I would be the
same way.  I once realized that I had
been watching twenty minutes of a cooking show with an Australian host and I
had no idea what was being made.  I’d
spent the entire time watching her mouth trying to figure out how she was murdering
pronouncing her vowels that way.  I
sounded like a monkey on the couch as I clenched and unclenched my teeth trying
“ehhh-oooh-uh” my vowels.  I was two
seconds away from throwing a shrimp on the barbie when my husband came home and
gave me the look that implied that while our marriage was a joy and a blessing,
it was also occasionally weird.

The unfortunate thing is that, just as I’m addicted to
copying other people’s accents, I find that I’m also prone to picking up the
language of whomever I’m reading.  I’m
sure my writing/reading group can tell when I’ve been reading Regency
Romances.  One cannot help but be
addicted to the opulent turn of phrase. 
And if I could work some sort of line about puce satin and a cravat into
the paragraph all the better.  What if
I’m reading fluffy chick lit?  Pretty
sure that my character needs to mention her thighs and a cupcake in the next
sentence.  Taut thrillers? Sentences get
shorter.  Characters become brutal. And
adverbs?  Kill ‘em.  Kill ‘em all. 

The brutal snuffing out of “suddenly” aside, this habit does
real damage to my narratives.  Characters
don’t sound like themselves (why does that Texan sound English?) and plots can
veer wildly off course as I spend a page (or three) describing clothing.  So when I’m writing I have to take a bit of a
hiatus from reading unless I can find that wondrous book that matches the tone
that I’m writing.  I think it’s
incredibly unfair that my reading has suffered as a result of my writing, but
currently it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. 
Of course, if I could just figure out how to retire with a million
dollars so that I could segregate my year into reading quarters and writing
quarters life would be awesome.

**

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, The Deveraux Legacy Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her
daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.