On Naming Names

In my first stint as a magazine editor, I looked up from my desk one afternoon to see a young deliveryman at my office door, carrying a flower arrangement. He looked lost. “Can I help you?” I offered.

“Are you Gay?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

He grinned broadly and proudly declared, “So am I!”

We shared a laugh for a good minute before he set the flowers on my desk, wished me a great day, and disappeared down the hall.

In my twenty-four years on earth at that point, it was the first time I realized that, as a name, mine had become an anachronism. When I told my mother about the humorous encounter, she revealed that she and my Dad had debated among three names for me—Joy, Merry, or Gay—before they settled on the one I have.

Ever since the flower guy’s visit, I’ve always tried to avoid startling any new person I’m about to meet with what might sound like a sexual identity announcement. So, instead of the usual “Hi, I’m Gay,” I say, slowly and distinctly, “Hello, my name is Gay.”

“Gay?” one might repeat.

I nod. “That’s my name.

Naming a fictional character

Choosing names for fictional characters is tricky, too, because the name has to fit. What might it communicate about them and their story?

I first pondered this when I helped write the thriller Five Minutes to Midnight. The author was an international expert on terrorism, and not a native English speaker. To start with, he asked for help in naming the main character, who plied the same profession as he did. The hero was bold and dangerous. After playing with possibilities, I came up with Sartain. To my ears, it sounded like a good cross between the word “certain” and the ultimate tough guy, Satan. The author loved it.

In my own Samantha Newman Mystery Series, I chose Sam’s last name because it reflected her unlucky habit of having to reinvent herself in each book. Now, after the first three books, she’s  in a good place. But given her history, who knows how long it will last?

Do you have a favorite fictional character name? Please share it in the comments below.

Gay Yellen writes the award-winning Samantha Newman Mystery Series, including: The Body Business, The Body Next Door, and The Body in the News.

Aerial photo of winding road

Plot Twists in Life and Books

by Mary Lee Ashford

Somehow there’s a lot going on in March. We are preparing for a discussion of our writing process and publishing paths – a program for our local Sisters in Crime chapter. And then at the end of the month, I’m moderating a panel at Only Books in the Building: A Writers Retreat on paths to publishing. So, I’ve been thinking a lot about the joy of writing and the twists and turns in the crazy and ever changing publishing business.  Like a twisty road where you don’t quite know what’s around the next turn, it can be both exciting and nerve-wracking at times.

Aerial photo of winding roadAs a part of the writing process the plot twists are, for me anyway, usually planned. Though there are those times when I’m deep into a project that the story takes a turn and I have to decide if that’s a road I want to go down or not. In most cases when I’ve taken that road it has ended up a better book in the long run.

In publishing, you’re not always in the driver’s seat and so the decisions are not always yours. In fact in the publishing world, sometimes the twists and turns are wonderful surprises and other times they are not exactly what you had planned. And sometimes what’s around the corner, much like in the writing process, ends up better than what you had planned.

When faced with one of those crazy turns, I always think about the John Steinbeck quote about writing. “The profession of book writing makes makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business.” But also, when there’s an unexpected twist, I find I have to remember why I started down this road in the first place and for me it’s all about the love of writing and the sharing of stories. So when my publisher decided not to continue the Sugar & Spice mysteries series and I was able to get the rights back to those stories, I didn’t know for sure what was next, but I kept writing. Sugar Calloway and Dixie Spicer still had stories to tell!

And now I’m very excited to share some news about what’s next on my publishing journey…

Three book cover for Sugar and Spice mysteries.

I am thrilled to be working with Oliver Heber Books and happy to announce the re-release of Game of Scones, Risky Biscuits, and Quiche of Death.  Book four is on its way soon and there will be more Sugar & Spice Mysteries coming. What do you think of the new covers?

And as 1/2 of Sparkle Abbey, I’m also continuing to work on the new series that we’ve talked about here – Shady Palms Mysteries.

Yes, somehow there really is a lot going on in March!

 

Photo of author Mary Lee Ashford

Mary Lee Ashford is the author of the Sugar & Spice mystery series from Oliver Heber Books and also half of the Sparkle Abbey writing team who pen the national best-selling Pampered Pets series. She is a lifelong bibliophile, an avid reader, and public library champion. Prior to publishing Mary Lee won the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. She is the founding president of Sisters in Crime – Iowa as well as a member of Mystery Writers of America and Novelists, Inc. She lives in the Midwest with her family and her feline coworker.

She loves to connect with readers and other writers. You can find her on social media at Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest or email her via her website at: MaryLeeAshford.com

Clicking Our Heels – Our Writing Kryptonites

Clicking Our Heels – Our Writing Kryptonites

Everyone thinks of writers as being focused and driven to write a specific number of words a day. The truth is writers can be distracted. Here are some of the things that make it difficult for each of us to write.

Bethany Maines – Interesting conversations happening in my vicinity (even when I don’t know the people involved).

Mary Lee Ashford (1/2 of Sparkle Abbey) – Wow, just one. There are so many distractions! I’m generally pretty good at pushing aside the noise and focusing, but family worries make it impossible and any looming deadlines in other areas of my life make focusing difficult.

Debra Sennefelder – Connie, my Shih Tzu. She’s always looking for a play session.

Donnell Ann Bell – During 2022 and 23, I was traveling back and forth a great deal to take care of my mom. Kryptonite was an apt term when you’re afraid to start anything because you’re likely to be called away at any minute. (Mindset was a problem). Mom passed November 2023 and just as I was outlining where I left off in working title Manhunt, my social media account was hacked. I am on the verge of getting that resolved, I think, but it’s been a process. It’s hard to write when worry consumes you.

Anita Carter (1/2 of Sparkle Abbey) – I cannot write if someone is standing behind me, or watching me. That’s the worst!

Gay Yellen – What can throw me off is distressing news, or often, real life obligations, some of which are not only necessary, but also enriching.

Lynn McPherson/Sydney Leigh – Dog eyes. When my dog stares at me waiting to play, eat, or walk. Not that she ever lacks any of the above LOL.

Debra H. Goldstein – Almost anything. Unless I’m feeling motivated or under a time deadline, I’m not very disciplined.

Lois Winston – {{{Stress!!!}}}

T.K. Thorne – I fall down multiple rabbit holes trying stay up with email and the news. There is so much going on in the world, it’s difficult to focus.

Dru Ann Love – Coming up with an idea or plot.

Saralyn Richard – House guests!

Barbara J. Eikmeier – My dog bumping my arm for attention while I’m typing.

In Praise of Critique Partners

The other day, I had reached a point in my current manuscript, the 13th book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series, that had me stymied. I was more than two-thirds toward writing “The End.” I knew that I was at the point where I needed to return to one of the red herring threads that I’d left dangling in a much earlier chapter. I also knew what I wanted to have happen and to whom it should happen, but I found I was trying to shove the proverbial square peg into the round hole. No matter what I tried, the scene just wasn’t working.

I pondered the situation for two full days and two sleepless nights of tossing and turning. The solution refused to come to me. I finally texted my critique partner: You have time to brainstorm?

A few minutes later, we were on the phone. I told her my idea, which she thought was fantastic, and the problem I was having executing that idea. She began to offer some suggestions.

That’s what a great critique partner will do. Her suggestions stimulated my brain cells, and we began to bounce ideas back and forth.

“What about….?”

“Yes, but then….”

“Well, what if…?”

“Okay, I can work with that, but then….”

“Hmm…I see where you’re going. So….”

“Hadn’t thought of that. Maybe….”

The conversation went back and forth for about twenty minutes. My brain filled with possibilities, and eventually, the perfect solution began to take shape.

That’s the wonderful thing about a great critique partner. Instead of telling you how she’d fix the problem, she looks at the problem through your eyes and coaxes you into seeing the situation from a different perspective. She doesn’t force her writing style on you but forces you to look outside the box and embrace other possibilities.

In the end, because of that brainstorming session, I stopped trying to shove that square peg into the round hole. Instead, with her help, I discovered the perfect square hole for my peg.

I owe you one, Donnell!

If you’re a reader, do you enjoy learning behind-the-scenes insights about the authors you read? If you’re a writer, do you have a critique partner or group you rely on for honest critiques of your work? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free audiobook download of A Sew Deadly Cruise, the ninth book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series.

~*~

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. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website www.loiswinston.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her on various social media sites.

A Trip to the Hudson Valley? Yes Please!

By Sydney Leigh

The spring is a fabulous time of year. The sun shines brighter, making for longer, warmer days. The outdoors becomes more accessible and I always have an urge to explore. But where to go?

My top choice would be a small town in the Hudson Valley. Known for its wonderful restaurants and walkable streets, it tops my list. Fletcher Lake, the fictional town in Peril in Pink, took inspiration from a number of places within the region. Hudson, NY is one of them. Here are the top three reasons I can’t wait to visit:

  1. There are so many restaurants here I’m desperate to try! A foodie’s paradise, it would take weeks to try all the amazing restaurants located in Hudson. Some of my top choices are Lil’ Deb’s Oasis, Wunderbar Bistro, La Mision, and Red Dot Restaurant & Bar.
  2. The bookstore! Spotty Dog Books & Ale: The name alone has me desperate to spend an afternoon here (at the very least).
  3. 510 Warren Street Gallery: one of many galleries within the town, this one is an artist-owned galley with a variety of mediums showcased.

If you were to choose one place to explore in the coming days, where would you choose to go?

Sydney Leigh spent several years running a seasonal business, working in the summer so she could spend cold months in cool places. Now she writes mysteries and thinks about murder. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and served on the board of Crime Writers of Canada from 2018-2021. Peril in Pink, the first book in the Hudson Valley B&B Mystery Series comes out in March 2024 with Crooked Lane Books.

The Classic Camel Coat

I gave away my winter coat. It was a long wool coat with generous sleeves, easy to fit over a bulky sweater or blazer. It was a classic style: Notched collar, button front, buttoned bands at the sleeves. It was camel colored. The same color as my dog. Some would call this coat ageless – my mother had one in the 60s. Hers was mohair. Mine was wool.

Having left my job in the business world, I no longer wore my classic camel coat, opting instead for a pack-able down number that I can stuff into my purse when needed. I donated my old coat during the winter coat drive last fall.

I bought the camel coat in 1995 to match our new dog, Millie, a golden retriever mix who shed year-round. My favorite long wool red coat was a magnet for her fur. The camel coat collected her fur too, it just didn’t’ show.

The coat served me well, but I never really loved the color. Tan, in general, washes me out. I prefer a red coat, or purple, or navy, or black – anything other than tan.

Years passed, jobs changed, my husband retired from the military and we stopped moving. It was time for a closet purge. I stripped hangers of glittery formal wear saved for the next military ball. I unclipped my skirt and jacket suits, brushed the dust off the shoulders, catching a whiff of the cologne I used to wear to work at my office job – it seemed like a lifetime ago.

I worked my way to the coats. I pulled two leather jackets, bought for a song when we lived in South Korea, excess raincoats, bought when caught in the rain while traveling, and hip length ‘tween season jackets. The last coat to go into the donation bag was my classic camel coat. I held it up to my body and looked in the mirror. Even though my skin has grown fairer as I’ve aged and my formerly dark brown hair has lightened with streaks of grey, camel still isn’t my color. Into the bag it went.

There were no second thoughts as I pulled the yellow tie cinching the plastic bag closed just as my husband came in. Patting the bag I said, “These can go to the coat drive.”

End of story, right?

Purges are often hard for me. I spent 26 years as a military wife moving every 2-3 years. With each move I gave up neighbors, houses, gardens, and social groups. I lost my dentist, hairdresser, and church community replacing them with new people at the next location. But I had my stuff.

The items I collected were familiar to me in their new surroundings. They helped make my new house feel like home. I became a maximalist collecting anything I loved, saving cards, letters, and love notes, acquiring twenty-eight chairs (the guy from the moving company told me he counted them!) I saved curtains and area rugs – one never knew when they might work in the next house. And I saved coats – after all, we lived in a variety of climates.

Millie, the camel-colored dog, passed away many years ago. I no longer find her fur on my sofa or in my car. I hadn’t worn my classic camel coat in 15 years. It was time to pass it on.

No regrets, right?

Well, no immediate regrets anyway, until I attended a nephew’s wedding on a cold day in January. I watched two young women come into the church together. They were the spouses of two of my other nephews who were groomsmen.

I enjoy being around 20 somethings. It’s fun to notice the styles they wear and hear the language they use. That day both women where dressed in tea length floral dresses. Trendy, I thought. Over their pretty dresses they were both wearing coats. Classic camel coats.What? Wait a minute – is the classic camel coat popular with young women? Did I give away my coat 2 months too soon? I felt a twinge of regret.

The January wedding was the beginning of an informal study. I began seeing classic camel coats everywhere! I saw young women in airports, bookstores, at the grocery market, even at the gas station wearing classic camel coats. The styling didn’t differ much from coat to coat although the length varied from hip length to mid-calf (like mine). One thing was certain, the classic camel coat was trending.

A few weeks ago, when a frigid polar vortex hung over Kansas, I thought about my donated coat. I’m always hopeful that my donated coats are keeping someone warm, but this year was different. I hoped that my coat was snatched up by a young woman on a budget, delighted in finding such a stylish coat.

I’m over the regret. At least I think I am, until I counted five sightings in one hour at the Kansas City Airport this morning.

Do you own a classic camel coat? If so, did you know you’re trending?

Barbara J. Eikmeier is a quilter, writer, student of quilt history, and lover of small-town America. Raised on a dairy farm in California, she enjoys placing her characters in rural communities.

Bethany Maines drinks from an arsenic mug

Valentine’s Noir

Noir? No Are? Nwar?  What now?

I occasionally participate in an author event called Noir at the Bar. Local writers bring crime and “noir” themed stories to scandalize listeners with tales of the seedy underbelly of society.  Oh, and also to drink, socialize and terrorize ourselves by reading in public.  This time around our date falls on the day after Valentine’s Day and our ring leader has decreed it to be a night of lost love, long hangovers, and doomed romance.  It’s Noir at the Bar – Heartbreakers Edition.

So What Kind of Noir Are You Writing?

True confession time… I’m terrible at noir.  I have a general lack of depression and tend to write characters I like. And since the nihilistic outlook seems to be the hallmark of noir that kind of makes me Noir-light at best.  So usually I write crime stories about characters who have managed to get themselves into a little bit of a pickle or are trying to get ahead for once.

Story Time…

This time out I’m reading The Rage Cage. I got the idea for this story from a therapist friend of mine who mentioned that one of her clients worked at a rage cage, and then of course, I had to ask, “What’s a Rage Cage?” It’s an establishment that let’s you smash everything.  If you’ve ever wanted to reenact the printer beat down scene from Office Space, they can make that happen for you.  They have enumerable objects to smash and lots of things to smash them with. I don’t know if it’s any cheaper than therapy, but you might get a work out.  And they find those smashable items in auctions of online storage units.  If someone forgets to pay their storage unit, the storage company will auction off the units.  Usually, someone will buy these contents sight unseen, pick through and sell what they can for a profit.  But a rage cage business is looking for breakable items. But that got me thinking about just what kind of items might turn up in those storage unit collections…

The Rage Cage

When Amber, the manager at the Rage Cage, stumbles on her ex-husband’s belongings among the items from a storage unit auction, she learns a secret that changes everything about her marriage and concocts a plan for revenge.

So wish me luck as I venture forth out into… gulp… the public and read The Rage Cage to it’s very first audience.

**

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of action-adventure and fantasy tales that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind end. She can usually be found chasing after her daughter, or glued to the computer working on her next novel (or screenplay). You can also catch up with her on TwitterFacebookInstagram, and BookBub.

NEVER GET DISCOURAGED

Great to be a new member of the Stiletto Gang, the most talented writers I’ve come across in a group, probably ever. As an introduction, I’ll lay out the highlights of my literary journey below.

 

In 1962, my mother registered me for a writing class that was offered in summer school after the eighth grade. Only one other girl signed up, so the class was cancelled.

 

Once in high school, we were assigned a short story. I wasn’t present the day the teacher handed them back—I’d gone to the orthodontist—but when I returned to school, kids congratulated me on my story, saying the teacher read it to the class. The next day when she returned my story, I found she’d give it a B-.

 

My parents told me I couldn’t be a writer because I wouldn’t be able to make a living. I don’t know whether that is what would have happened. You never know what the future holds. But, I was an obedient child, at least for a while, so I said ok.

 

I didn’t know what else I might want to do. Dad wanted my sister and me to be teachers, so if our husbands died or abandoned us, we’d be able to support ourselves. My sister did and ended up as an administrator in a small public school district. Me? I dropped in and out of five colleges/universities until I was finally awarded a B.S. degree in Criminal Justice.

 

I once signed up, as an adult, for a writing class at the community college in our town, excited to finally get something going. When I received my first story back, the instructor had written that I had no talent—give it up.

 

After I began practicing law, I was lying around my living room once night and told my husband that if a writer could make $5,000 a pop for genre romance novels as it stated in the TV Guide article I read, I should try that. I read everything, including romances. I didn’t think it looked that hard. So, I bought some books on writing romances and sent for tip sheets and finally wrote one. I sent it off and waited for a response. The editor said no, she wouldn’t publish my novel, her rejection including some choice insults, and never to send her anything again.

 

I began writing suspense/mysteries in the 80s. My father was a criminal defense lawyer, (and later a judge), so I’d been around the law since I was little. I had been a probation officer and was at that time a criminal and family lawyer. Crime, I knew about. By the way, I heard that not long after the aforementioned editor rejected my novel, she died. Just so you know, I didn’t kill her.

 

When my editor at St. Martin’s Press, Inc. called me about MY FIRST MURDER, (my first published novel) he excitedly asked where I learned to write like that. He loved the book and said my manuscript was one of the best submissions he’d ever seen in terms of preparation, punctuation, etc. He loved it so much, a year later he rejected the sequel.

 

Enough of that. My point is, never give up. I had that first novel sale in 1988. I used the book as a political tool when I was running for office, donating copies across the county. What a great gimmick! I received free publicity and extra attention at every event, in addition to speaking engagements.

 

I was elected to the bench and took office on 1/1/91. My focus turned to being a sitting judge, modernizing practices and procedures in that court, including starting programs to help families and children. I continued to write whenever I could, though I didn’t have any other books published until after I left the bench at the end of 2002. In 2004, Eakin Press (a Texas publisher) released my nonfiction books: Heart of Divorce (which I wrote to help pro se litigants who couldn’t afford lawyers to prosecute their own divorces) and Murdered Judges of the 20th Century, which I researched and wrote over the previous six years, (and which began as evidence for the county commissioners that we needed courthouse security).

 

After that, I started submitting works I’d written while on the bench. I wanted to change my focus from the law to liberal arts. In 2015, I made the decision to self-publish. Though by then I had several mystery/suspense novels under my belt, I had grown tired of the traditional publishing process. I was aging out. The last straw was when an agent told me to cut my manuscript 20,000 words and submit it to her. I did, and never heard from her. That was it.

 

At sixty-five years of age, I was sick of the abuse most authors suffer at the hands of agents and editors. I was writing because I have to, not because I needed to. Or, as I often phrase it, I can’t not write. There was no joy, no pleasure in experiencing what they were dishing out. Where I had hoped for years to have the guidance and support of an agent and/or editor, I realized that would never happen. I have stories to tell. I’m constantly learning craft. I don’t care if I ever have huge sales. I’m having fun doing what I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl with no pressure, no insults, no rejection. I love it.

 

Now, at 74, I spend a lot of my days writing or reading. I’m having fun living life my way. I never gave up. I suggest if you love to write, don’t let anyone discourage you either.

Susan has published 14 books in the last 30 or so years. Not all of them are mystery/suspense, but all of them have something to do with the law.

crumpled paper with the words ideas

Where Do We Get Our Ideas?

by Sparkle Abbey

crumpled paper with the words ideas

People often ask authors where their ideas for particular books come from. And though it’s quite different from author to author, one thing we’ve discovered from hanging out with other authors is that most have no problem coming up with ideas for stories. In fact, most of us have far more ideas than we’ll ever have the time to write. Story ideas are everywhere.

Writers are innately curious and so a news story, a magazine article, even an obituary can spark a thought that turns into a possibility. The writer imagination is off and running and wondering “what if.” The news of the day may be a big fire at a local business. It could have been faulty electrical wiring, but the writer wonders what if it wasn’t. What if there’s more to the story? What if the fire was actually a cover-up?

Also writers are by nature observers. Yes, that’s us sitting quietly in the corner of the room or on the park bench. That couple holding hands while their body language says there’s something else going on. What’s their story? The three girls in a whispered conversation whose foreheads are almost touching. What secrets are they sharing? The elderly woman with her purse clutched tightly on her lap who keeps checking her watch. Who is she waiting for? And the guy on his phone that looks oddly out of place. Why is he dressed like that with a hat that shades his face? Is he undercover? Perhaps a spy?

Or wait maybe the elderly woman is the spy. Wouldn’t that be a great twist? The guy on his phone may be meeting someone and they’ve gotten lost. We imagine the three teen-aged girls in fifteen years. Will they still be friends? Still sharing secrets? What if they lose touch with each other? What if they don’t? What if a shared secret them keeps them forever bound together?

See how it works? There is drama everywhere, and secrets, and stories. As writers we are sponges for the bits and pieces that are story sparks. We get to bring those stories to life and give them twists and change them around.

Ideas are everywhere.

So now that you know how it works, the only thing to remember is when you’re having a conversation with a writer, and they get that far-away look, there is a good chance they have spotted a potential story across the room and they’re already coming up with ideas. Or the other possibility is that something you’ve said has been the spark, and you’ve provided the story idea.

Writers – Is this how it works for you? Have you come across an interesting story spark that you’ve yet to write?

Readers – How about you? Have you come across an idea that you thought would make a great story?

Do tell…

Mary Lee and Anita

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.)

If you want to make sure you get updates, visit them on Facebook and sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website