Tag Archive for: Rainy Day Women mystery

CHOOSING THE GLASS HALF FULL

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by Kay Kendall

Tradition says that when a calendar year draws near its
close, people often describe their feelings about the year that has passed and
the one that looms ahead. 2016 appears likely to be nominated for the dubious
prize of the worst year ever—or at least in recent memory.


Wherever we looked in 2016, there were troubles galore.
The weather was extreme. Global populations were fleeing miserable conditions and
causing disruption in nearby peaceful countries. International relations were
frayed. American presidential politics were extreme.


Finally in the last quarter of this benighted year, I ran
into a personal health scare. This was amplified by the fact that exactly two
years earlier my husband had endured a similar health crisis. After coming down with a pinch of PTSD, in order to keep
myself from plunging into a pit of despair and staying there, I vowed to manage
my own head. It became almost a full-time job, but I did it.

When I was young—to pick a
number, let’s say when I was less than 25 years old—I enjoyed experiencing my
strong see-sawing emotions. Mood changes made me feel alive. I loved the wild
feelings of euphoria and actually did not mind a touch of mild despair.

Over time I realized that
being emotional could be overdone. After all, I never yearned to go on the
stage.  When I married and raised a
child, I began learning to control my emotions. One emotion I could never
control, however, was dread. Playing the game of What If came naturally to me.
But whenever I got stuck playing that game in my head, the What If questions
always came out with bad answers. Nothing ever came positive.

Then I learned I have an
anxiety disorder and actively sought to control my own head. Reading in psychology
and philosophy enabled me to see that whatever moment you are in is your only
reality. If you are too busy worrying about the future or regretting your past,
then you are not fully alive to the wonders of the present.

One of the habits I’ve
acquired that helps me most is to seek evidence that the glass is always half
full, never half empty. This in turn leads to a feeling of gratitude. I have
had many blessings and much good luck in my life. By emphasizing these things
rather than sorrows or slipups, I have found more joy in my everyday living.

Now I study the habits of
people who handle trials and tribulations with grace and forbearance. Even
though I have dodged the recent health scare with the assistance of fantastic
medical professionals, I know that there will be more ordeals ahead. That is a
fact of life—and of aging.

Often I think of the story I
was told about two boys who were given the task of mucking out stalls filled
with manure. One boy dragged his feet, whining and complaining. The other boy
set to cleaning the stall while he whistled. When asked about his happy
attitude, the second lad explained, “I know there has to be a pony in here
somewhere.”

And that is how I spend my
time these days. I am always looking for the pony.  
~~~~~~~
Want to read the first 20 pages of Kay Kendall’s second mystery, RANY DAY WOMEN? Go to her website http://www.austinstarr.com/
That book won two awards at the Killer Nashville conference in August 2016—for best mystery/crime and also for best book.

Her first novel about Austin Starr‘s sleuthing, DESOLATION ROW, was a finalist for best mystery at Killer Nashville in 2014. Visit Kay on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor

Why I Write Mysteries

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By Kay Kendall

I don’t give a fig how a car works. Or electricity. Or a
computer. They all could be black boxes, as far as I’m concerned, inside which
mysterious things happen. Poof! The car turns on. Poof! Electricity powers the
air conditioner. Poof! The computer recalls everything you type into it. 
What I really care about is how people work. Why they do
the things they do. I discovered this passion one teenaged summer when my
boyfriend dumped me and I drooped into churlishness. After a week my mother
tired of my moods and suggested I work at one of her charities. 
I began volunteering at the county’s psychiatric clinic,
helping with rudimentary clerical tasks. As I typed up forms and patients’
reports, I was shocked to see so much pain appear on the pages. But later I was
gratified to see the clinic’s psychiatric social worker help some of those patients
whose woes I learned about. Sometimes they left our office with springier steps.
I fancied I could see their anxieties and depression lift.
That same summer my favorite cousin began exhibiting
behavioral problems. Merle was super bright but troubled. I never saw him act
out or be mean to someone, but I began to hear stories.  I wanted to help him but didn’t have the
skills. Ah-hah, I thought! I’d study psychology in college and become a
psychiatric social worker so I could fix him.
Please note that I never aspired to be a psychologist or
psychiatrist. Perhaps that was because I’d only seen a psychiatric social
worker in action and therefore could imagine being one. Betty Friedan had just published
The Feminine Mystique. I hadn’t read
it, and it would be years before I became an ardent feminist. 
When I started college in the sixties, I loved all my
classes—even for a short time geology and astronomy, subjects taken only to
fulfill liberal arts distribution requirements. Much to my sorrow, however, psychology was a letdown,
a huge bore. 
I wanted to learn about people. But all we studied were
rats. While two friends in my class did manage to cope with rodentia behavior, I
couldn’t.  These women went on to earn
their doctorates in psychology and help countless people. For me, however, the
gap between the actions of rats and people was too great a leap. I never took
another course after Psych 101.
I toyed with various majors, but English literature was my
mainstay. Fiction encompassed everything about humanity, and I’d always been a
ferocious reader. Writing was a joy. After getting a graduate degree in history—real
crimes that happened in the past, I now say—I fell back on writing and developed
a solid career as a corporate communicator. However, I never felt I’d found my
niche. My heart did not sing.
When I began writing fiction a decade ago, I finally responded
to an inner compulsion. What I had to explore is why people do the things they
do. Character development and plot are almost synonymous to me. It’s like attending
another high school reunion and seeing old friends again after ten years. I’m
reading the newest chapters in their lives. People are walking and ongoing stories.
Curiosity drives me to learn everything I can and then fictionalize it—showing behavior
and uncovering motives. 
The mystery comes in when good people do bad things. Each
of us is a mysterious black box. Inside are so many factors all jumbled up—memories,
desires, huge grievances. How can others hope to understand us? How can we hope
to understand ourselves?
Yet still we try. We must try. Sadly, I never deciphered
what made my cousin Merle derail. I was helpless to alter his sad trajectory. Alas,
after living for years in a hospital for the criminally insane, he
wandered off into a field while on furlough and simply lay down and died. He
was forty.
As a mystery author, though, I can put characters into
extreme peril and see how they react. Can they sort out their own complicated
lives? Can they figure out who has done what vile thing to whom? Solving the
puzzles of people living only on pages (or in E files) is now my full-time job.
After I figure out one set of interconnecting lives, then I go on to develop
another set, another, and another. This is a job I relish.

~~~~~~~

Author Kay Kendall

Want to read the first 20 pages of Kay Kendall’s second mystery, RANY DAY WOMEN? Go to her website http://www.austinstarr.com/ That book won two awards at the Killer Nashville conference in August 2016—for best mystery/crime and also for best book. Her first novel about Austin Starr‘s sleuthing, DESOLATION ROW, was a finalist for best mystery at Killer Nashville in 2014. Visit Kay on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor


 

AUSTIN STARR SPILLS THE BEANS

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Amateur sleuth Austin talks to her creator Kay Kendall

Freaking out. That’s
exactly what I’m doing. Freaking out.

RAINY DAY WOMEN-An Austin Starr Mystery

               Remember
how desperate I was when my husband was jailed for a murder he didn’t commit? If
it hadn’t been for all the moral support Larissa gave me, I’d never have been
able to track down the real killer. I owe her so much.

               Now it’s Larissa herself who’s in big trouble. She
just called long distance with the terrible news. She’s a prime suspect in a murder.
Good grief, it’s only been a year since David was an accused killer. This is too much. I’ll have to wear a trench
coat and fedora—pretend I am a private eye—if I keep getting pulled into these
cases on a routine basis.
               Larissa wants me to fly across the continent—all the
way to the Pacific coast—to back her up while the police grill her. I’m
desperate to help her out, but I don’t see how I can. Believe me, I’d leave
tomorrow if I could.
               But what would I do with baby Wyatt? He’s only three
months old. Last time I chased a killer—back before I was a mom—I almost
died. That kind of scene is no place for an infant.
               But I can’t go by myself and leave Wy at home. David’s
facing a big deadline in grad school, and he’ d have a hissy fit if I asked him to babysit. Of course
I juggle Wyatt’s child care with my
own studies, but that’s expected. After all, I’m the mom. Dads don’t do things
like that—not much anyway.
               Here’s another thing—kind of selfish of me, I know. I planned
to drive down to Woodstock, New York, this weekend. The big outdoor rock ‘n’ roll
concert is happening pretty close by. I figured I’d put Wy in his little carrying sling, and he could enjoy the music with me.
               Still, I cannot
leave Larissa in the lurch. She’s the only real friend I’ve made since I pulled
up stakes and left my home and family in Texas to join my new husband up here
in Ontario, in the Great White North.
Since
Larissa left for her summer job, I’ve really missed her. Long distance is too
expensive to talk much. When I heard her voice on the phone, I knew something
was wrong. We tell each other everything. See, she’s the only one who knows I was trained
as a spy by the CIA. That was back before I married David. I could never tell him that. He would not approve, that’s
for sure. But Larissa knows and keeps all my secrets.
               Oh gosh, the more I consider this situation, the more I realize
I must fly out and back her up during
her time of trouble. She’ll call me back in an hour to ask if I’m coming. Guess
I’ll have to put a plan in place. I must think of something.  

~~~~~~~           
Author Kay Kendall
Want to read the first 20 pages of Kay Kendall’s second mystery, RANY DAY WOMEN? Go to her website http://www.austinstarr.com/ That book won two awards at the Killer Nashville conference in August 2016—for best mystery/crime and also for best book. Her first novel about Austin Starr‘s sleuthing, DESOLATION ROW, was a finalist for best mystery at Killer Nashville in 2014. Visit Kay on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor

 

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL

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by Kay Kendall

Many readers of the Stiletto Gang blog know that Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, was held last weekend in New Orleans. It’s an annual gargantuan event that brings together fans, authors, publishers, agents, booksellers, and even critics of crime fiction for a long weekend of learning, awards, and fun. The name honors Anthony Boucher, the distinguished mystery fiction critic, editor, and author. He helped crime fiction gain credibility back when it was considered merely “pulp fiction.”


Where do Bouchercon authors hang out? In the book room of course!
 (l-r) Lisa Alber, Barry Lancet, Laura Elvebak, Manning Wolfe, & me Kay Kendall

Naturally, in New Orleans, the entertainment and fun were stellar. Those of us who attended are still marveling at how the good times rolled and the hospitality was rampant, and some of us are just too tired to type…but type I must.

The first Bouchercon took place in 1970 in Santa Monica, California. Since then, Bouchercons have been held in many cities across the United States and in Canada too. In fact next year’s event begins in Toronto on October 12, 2017. The fiftieth anniversary event will be held in Dallas, Texas. Thousands of totally volunteer hours go into making each Bouchercon a success–a fond memory to cherish and a shimmering event to attend again in the future.

While on the one hand many writers of crime fiction are deeply introverted, on the other hand most throw caution to the winds and revel in the comradeship of fellow authors and fans when at a Bouchercon. Included here are photographs to convince you of this truth.


Megastars chat–on left David Morrell (papa of Rambo) and Lee Child (dad of Jack Reacher)

My first Bouchercon took place in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2011. I’m not an introvert, but even I was initially taken aback by the hootin’ and hollerin’ as friends greeted each other after a year’s absence. I expected to remain excluded from that for years. But I was wrong, thank goodness. The mystery crowd is famous for its inclusivity, its friendliness, and its supportiveness.

At the conference in St. Louis an author on his first Bouchercon panel expressed his astonishment. He had expected to see competitiveness and criticism, like he found when attending his wife’s professional poetry events, where meanness abounded. The friendliness of Bouchercon amazed and pleased him. That was five years ago, and the kindness and support have only grown and expanded since then.

Writing is a lonely gig. Self-doubt is your constant companion. The worldwide publishing situation is super tough. Meeting up with other authors and readers, however, is a balm to your soul. If you are a crime fiction fan or writer and have never attended a Bouchercon–or a smaller conference perhaps nearer to where you live–I urge you to attend. “Just do it.” Friendship, support, well-meant advice, and fun all await you.. It is truly one for all and all for one. We crime authors may write about mayhem and murder, but in real life, we are all (well, say, 99% of us) as gentle as lambs. And so, to close, I’ll reference another famous ad slogan–“Life is meant to be good.”

~~~~~~~

Kay Kendall’s Austin Starr mysteries <http://www.AustinStarr.com> capture the spirit and turbulence of the 1960s. DESOLATION ROW (2013) and RAINY DAY WOMEN (2015) show Austin, a 22-year-old Texas bride, set adrift in a foreign land and on the frontlines of societal change. Austin learns to cope by turning amateur sleuth.

GONE GIRL’S Mom and Me

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By Kay Kendall

Author of GONE GIRL Gillian Flynn (left), me on the right

Every
few years a new book bursts on the scene and throws the crime novel genre into
a tizzy. These are big books that sell millions, remain on bestseller lists for
months and months, get remade as movies, and establish new trends in reading.


In
recent memory three enormous crime novels have burst forth from publishers in North
America. Dan Brown’s THE DA VINCI CODE hit in 2003, revivifying the thriller sub-genre. Stieg Larsson’s GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO came to America from Sweden in September 2008, the
first of a four-part series. And in June 2012 came the diabolically plotted GONE GIRL by Gillian
Flynn.

My
favorite among these mega-sellers, by far, is GONE GIRL. I admire the author’s
ability to fashion such an intricate yet entertaining plot. As a writer myself,
plotting is not my long suit, so I’m awed by someone whose talents in that
area are masterful.

Online
comments about this book amaze me. So many readers profess to dislike the book
and to loathe the two main characters, yet the darned thing stayed a bestseller
for ages. In 2014 GONE GIRL was made into a film that opened to fine reviews.
The author wrote the screen play. GONE GIRL’s popularity was so immense that it sent her two previous novels up the bestseller charts too–SHARP OBJECTS and DARK PLACES.

Back
then, in the midst of all this hoopla about GONE GIRL, I thumbed through the
latest edition of my undergrad alma mater’s monthly magazine and found—lo and
behold—an article about Gillian Flynn. Because I knew little about her,
I stopped to read the story, thinking she must have made a presentation at the University
of Kansas. Why else were they profiling her? Then I did a double take, and then
a triple take.
Gillian
Flynn graduated from the same school I did. Who knew?! Not only was KU the
alma mater of the famed mystery writer Sara Paretsky, and of me (not so
famous), but it was also Ms. Flynn’s. I was so proud I burst into a short
rendition of the school cheer, Rock Chalk, right on the spot. (I scared my
dog.)
Because
I attend three large mystery and thriller conferences each year, I have the
chance to see many fine and famous authors. Some are on the circuit and easy to
find. For example, every summer I see author David Morrell, and I have blogged
about meeting him, the father of RAMBO. A few authors never seem to appear at
conferences. Ms. Flynn is not on the circuit.

Author Karin Slaughter (left) interviews Gillian Flynn (right)

Then
last summer the International Thriller Writers announced its lineup of headline
authors for ThrillerFest 2016. And there she was. Gillian Flynn. For an entire
year I looked forward to hearing her talk about her life and life’s work. I’m
delighted to say that she did NOT disappoint.

At
the conference in New York City on July 8, author Karin Slaughter interviewed
Ms. Flynn for an hour. Because they are long-time friends, their talk was free
and easy. Emphasis on easy, even tiptoeing
into truly raunchy territory. If you’ve seen the film BRIDESMAIDS, then you
know whereof I speak.
Several
things Ms. Flynn said stuck in my mind. First, she attributed her penchant for
writing dark, dark stories to her upbringing. Her parents were college
teachers, and her father (a film professor) shared scary movies with her at a
young age. She explained during the interview, “When I turned seven, he said, ‘I
think you are now ready to see PSCYHO.’”
That
explains a lot, doesn’t it?
Ms.
Flynn also noted that when she meets readers, they often say to her, “Oh, you
seem so normal.” Well, exactly! I sat in the audience and thought that very
same thing. Her normalcy, she says, comes from her Midwestern upbringing
(hometown, Kansas City). Her fiction writing comes from her dose of heavy-duty
adult film and reading material, started very early.
Of
course I stood in line to have her sign a copy of GONE GIRL for me. I bought a
second one just for that purpose. We had a nice chat, and she said, when asked,
of course she recalls KU’s Rock Chalk chant.
Now
Gillian Flynn is hard at work on the follow-up to her mega bestseller and
professed to feeling some pressure. I wished her well and went off happily, my
signed copy of GONE GIRL clutched to my chest.
If
you are interested in more detail about Gillian Flynn, here is more background
about her, written in her own words. http://gillian-flynn.com/for-readers/
(Note:
She pronounces her first name with a hard G. As in gill, like a fish.
~~~~~~~ 


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! In fact that’s why she writes historical mysteries.

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

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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!

  

Is “Author Fitness” an Oxymoron?

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By Kay Kendall

Most writers now spend countless hours each day seated at their
computers pouring words into their machines. Oh, for sure, a few rare birds do exist
who live otherwise—British writer Graham Greene wrote his usual 500 words each
day and then called it quits. Few of us are that disciplined, however, and
besides, the literary pace has picked up considerably since Greene’s heyday (and
more’s the pity).  

As Greene grew older, his daily word count even slid to 300
words. He said he couldn’t sit still longer than 90 minutes, comparing himself
unfavorably to Joseph Conrad whose ability to sit and write for twelve hours at
a stint was legendary.

Pity today’s poor authors. We no longer get the exercise
that our predecessors did decades ago. After all, they pounded typewriter keys. Surely that burned up a few extra calories
compared to the soft touch used on computer keys? And remember this—writers
from the 1860s to the 1960s also had to fling
their mechanical typewriter carriages when they reached the end of lines on their
pages. Until electric computers were invented, there was that nice little workout
too.  

Lately I’ve mused about the unhealthy life of a writer. Not
only am I getting creakier as I sit for longer hours at a time, but also I’m
reading that my lifespan is threatened if I sit too long each day. Health and
fitness gurus are now encouraging everyone to stand up—and walk too, preferably—at
least ten minutes out of each hour.

I think about
doing that, but so far that’s not been added to my routine. If I’m really
cooking on a chapter, I scarcely want to glance at the clock that’s telling me
to stand up, walk around—heck, and even smell the roses, for all I know. At
least when Graham Greene stopped after writing his required words, he then would
imbibe too much alcohol and consort with willing women who were not his wife.
That was some kind of incentive to get moving, I guess, at least for him.

I may not get up and move—or even wiggle in my chair—each hour
that I am writing, but I do exercise at least five times a week. I use a
stationary bicycle and recently added an elliptical machine to my workout
routine. Once upon a time I was proud of these exertions. I was exercising more
than the suggested number of hours each week. Yet that’s not good enough now. I
am still sitting for up to four hours at a stretch each day. My bottom gets
numb and sometimes—like now—my back aches a wee bit too.

So, I guess I’m ready for a new addition
to my fitness routine. Either that, or I could
adopt part of Graham Greene’s pattern and take up heavy drinking. Now there is
a topic for another blog one day—Let us consider the great number of writers
who were alcoholics.
 

 

Kay Kendall’s historical
mysteries capture the spirit and turbulence of the 1960s, and her titles show she’s a Bob
Dylan buff too. DESOLATION ROW (2013) and RAINY DAY WOMEN (2015) are in her
Austin Starr Mystery series. Austin is a 22-year-old Texas bride who ends up on
the frontlines of societal change, learns to cope, and turns amateur sleuth….Kay
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.

I’M LIVING IN THE ROARING TWENTIES

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By Kay Kendall

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rainy Day Women by Kay Kendall

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

My First Four Chapters…and a Giveaway

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By Kay Kendall

Yesterday was my birthday, and I had a lovely time. I got to feeling so buoyant I decided that today I would give a present to someone. Two presents, actually.

I have written two mysteries, and the latest one is RAINY DAY WOMEN. If you haven’t yet read it, check out the first four chapters online for free.
Go here http://austinstarr.com/
Then click on the link on the upper left to open a PDF file containing the beginning of the book. That is the first present.

 If you’d like a chance to win a free copy of this mystery, then leave a comment below and include a few words about why you’d like to read it. That’s the second present a lucky person will win.

RAINY DAY WOMEN is rated 4.7 stars (out of 5) on Amazon, and people have enjoyed it a lot. It tells the story of Austin Starr, a young married woman with an infant who chooses to fly across the continent to help out a dear friend in trouble. So much trouble that she is accused of murder.

The time is 1969, and Austin Starr stumbles into the budding world of women’s liberation because both the victim and the prime suspect (Austin’s pal) belong to a women’s consciousness raising group. The historical details are accurate, but not heavy-handed. Women who lived in that era have told me how surprised they were at the memories my book brings back, saying they had forgotten how different it was, way back then. Younger readers express shock at some everyday happenings.

I hope you’ll take a look at the free pages and be enticed to read more. Deadline for comments: Sunday evening, 6 pm central time, February 21.

~~~~~~~

Kay Kendall

Kay Kendall’s historical mysteries capture the spirit and turbulence of the 1960s. Kay’s degrees in Russian history and language help ground her tales in the Cold War, and her titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff too. DESOLATION ROW (2013) and RAINY DAY WOMEN (2015) are in her Austin Starr Mystery series. Austin is a 22-year-old Texas bride who ends up on the frontlines of societal change, learns to cope, and turns amateur sleuth. Kay 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.

Facing the New Year

/in /by

By Kay Kendall

Even though
we are now six days into 2016, I still feel compelled to write something about
entering a new year. On the other hand, maybe this is trite. To resolve the
issue, I did a quick online search of topics to blog about…and here is the
advice that jumped out at me.

What are people afraid
of? Do what you can to help allay those fears.
So I am back
to where I began. I’ll call it “Facing Down the New Year without Fear and
Trembling.”

 

After all, that topic haunted me as the last days of December
dwindled down. The old year had held so many horrors on so many levels. You
name it. Whether it was personal, national, or international, things were
danged scary. Whereas every other year I had welcomed the coming one with hope
and delight, looking at 2016 looming on the calendar caused anxiety and
shudders. I felt particularly snake bitten because of

a) My husband’s cancer treatments in 2015
(Will the cancer return?)
b) America’s decreasing harmony (Look at
our national and state electoral processes)

c) International tensions high as the
Cuban missile crisis (As a kid, I assumed it would sort itself out.)

 
Cursing snake bites, I walked back from the abyss’ edge and quit scaring
myself to death. The Internet asserts some of you are
experiencing similar fears, so I’ll share thoughts that helped calm
me down.

 

First, on
the international and national political stages, issues indeed are piling up,
but that does not mean that we will not keep on muddling through, crisis after crisis.
Most of the time we do. Just think how news organizations catastrophize everything
so we will pay attention to them, and that this goes on twenty-four hours a day
every day, ceaselessly. No wonder our stomachs are aflutter with fear. Some
politicians also actively try to scare us into their ways of thinking. Calmer
voices are difficult to hear above the fray.
I used to be
a news junky, and I guess in a way I still am, but I simply cannot bear to
listen to politicians and news pundits screaming that the sky is falling for
one reason or another all the time anymore. When my head churns with thoughts
of terrorism, mass immigration, climate change and the like, I turn the television off and
do something soothing. Like petting the dog. Going for a walk. Remembering that
most things I’ve worried about in my life have never come to pass. No, really.
If you don’t believe me, then list your own old fears and see exactly which
ones came true. Not many, if your life is anything like mine.
Now with
some mental toughness and practice, I have set my mind firmly in the half-full
position. I push aside the notion that the cup could also be half-empty. The
year ahead will be like most—as full of ups as it is of downs. I focus on the
ups, and keep on truckin’ right past the downs. So what if I have to reset to
half-full every few days. I can do it. Stay positive, that is. And if I can,
you surely can too.
Most of all,
I remember that all we ever have is this very moment we are living in. If I am
too anxious to enjoy it, then I’m wasting a perfectly good life. We all can
train our minds to be happy. In a serious pinch, then we can follow this maxim –
Fake it til you make it. I once heard a perfectly great sermon at my Methodist
church on that very topic.
~~~~~~~

Kay Kendall’s historical mysteries capture the spirit and turbulence of the 1960s. DESOLATION ROW (2013) and RAINY DAY WOMEN (2015) are in her Austin Starr Mystery series. Austin is a 22-year-old Texas bride who ends up on the frontlines of societal change, learns to cope, and turns amateur sleuth. Kay’s degrees in Russian history and language help ground her tales in the Cold War, and her titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff too. Kay 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.