My Weblog

Laura: Micki and I met a few years back when we were both in Florida for one of Don Maass' week-long novel writing courses. I was working on my 15th novel, The Reckoning Stones, and Micki was polishing her first which featured a female cop. (Did I mention that Micki was a cop?) We bonded over red wine, having retired from professions dominated by men (she was a cop and I was an Air Force intel officer), and a shared sense of humor. I am delighted to welcome her to Femmes today to talk about her first published book, Adrift, which has already won awards and debuted earlier this month. She and her books are both totally AWESOME!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Not What You Know, But What You Omit That Matters

Micki: I like to joke that I became a professional writer the day I graduated from the police academy. A career in law enforcement isn’t just about fighting crime; it’s about documenting it. By the time I retired twenty-two years later, I’d written thousands of reports. I knew how to construct a factual narrative and I thought transitioning to fiction would be easy. After all, how hard could it be to make stuff up? Turns out, it’s pretty tough.

I was recently asked how my law enforcement background informs my writing. The short answer is that it lends authenticity to my stories. But that’s only half the answer.

As an officer, I’ve participated in a staggering amount of training. It started with 852 hours in the academy and ended with graduate-level coursework at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Everything I’ve ever written has somehow drawn upon these experiences. I’ve been privy to horrific violence and inspiring heroics. I know my way around a crime scene. That said, sometimes the depth of my training has impeded my storytelling. I know too much.

My early attempts at writing were mired in the minutia. Like a researcher who wants to share every detail, I over-explained. Take handcuffs. Every officer has a set of matching bracelets, but did you know the Peerless Handcuff Company has been the major manufacturer of restraints since 1914 and that their swing-through handcuff design continues to be the industry standard? Do you care? Drop terms like single strand, pawl pin, and key post, and what every reader could once visual is now obscured behind a curtain of technical specificity.

Or how about the fact that each set of handcuffs has a serial number? Writers may be interested to learn that serial numbers are traceable. Perhaps the handcuffs were part of a bulk purchase by a law enforcement agency or a military surplus store. While the store may not record who bought the cuffs, if the equipment was shipped to a police agency, the quartermaster would know to whom the cuffs were issued. But here is my point: readers only care about handcuff serial numbers if they are relevant to the story.

Writing realistic crime fiction is difficult. If a character plays Russian roulette with an automatic handgun and lives to tell the tale, the author loses credibility. Why? Russian roulette only works with a revolver. I’m lucky. I have a foundation of valuable experience to draw upon to ensure the scenes and characters are realistic. In fact, I usually have more than enough material, which makes it easy to delete extraneous information from the page. (And let me assure you, in the past, I wrote a lot of useless words before I realized which details to include in my stories.)

Fiction demands realism without being constrained by facts. With practice, writers can learn which details are most important to the storyline. Ultimately, readers will appreciate what you omit as much as what you include.

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Author Micki Browning worked in law enforcement for more than two decades and retired as a division commander. Her debut mystery, Adrift, set in the Florida Keys, was published by Alibi-Random House in January 2017. It won both the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence and the Royal Palm Literary Award. Learn more at www.MickiBrowning.com

ADRIFT

Marine biologist-turned divemaster Meredith Cavallo thought adjusting to a laid-back life in the Florida Keys would be a breeze after the regimented schedule of an Arctic research vessel, but when she rescues a diver who claims to have seen a ghost, she’s caught in a storm of supernatural intrigue.

News of the rescue goes viral—not welcome notoriety for a researcher trying to obtain a new position. A team of ghost hunters descends on the Keys and Mer is pressured into serving as a safety diver for a documentary crew in search of paranormal activity. When Ishmael, the crew’s charismatic leader, vanishes during a midnight dive on the Spiegel Grove shipwreck everyone but Mer is convinced that things really do go bump in the night.

Determined to find a rational explanation, Mer launches her own investigation, but how to find a dead man wasn’t covered in grad school and the local law enforcement consider her involvement in both diving incidents criminally curious. Relying on skepticism, discipline, and logic gets her nowhere. The victim’s life is as shrouded in mystery as his disappearance. Insurance fraud, business debts and illicit love further muddy the waters. Reluctantly, she considers employing less scientific means. When someone tries to kill her, she knows the truth is about to surface. Maybe dead men tell tales after all.

THE PRESS

I fly to Albuquerque today to “do press.” Tonight I will have dinner with a lot of entertainment journalists – of course the cast will be there also, and by far the greater attraction -- because, well, they’re attractive.

Then tomorrow, I will be doing some interviews in tandem with Monica Owusu-Breen, the scriptwriter of MIDNIGHT, TEXAS, and Parisa Fitz-Henley, who is playing Fiji, my full-figured witch. Of course, this being Hollywood, Fiji is not full-figured any longer, but she is body-conscious and dresses eccentrically. Since Fiji has a cat, and Parisa is violently allergic to cats, she is also brave personally.

These are perilous waters indeed.

My first rule for such events is Don’t Drink. You need to be vigilant and to think before you speak. Think TWICE before you speak. My second rule is Never be Negative. I love the writing, I love the actors, I’m delighted with how the filming is going. (This is very close to the truth.) I have seen examples of writers who trashed the film version of their works, and I can’t do that. It’s ungracious. I’m old-school that way.

I have a third rule; Don’t be an Attention Hog. You may be snorting with laughter and thinking, “She sure missed the target on that!” But I try very hard to let other people have time to talk, even harder not to interrupt (one of my besetting sins), and most difficult of all, to be honest without being offensive.

So wish me luck as once again I brave the beaches of the press.

Charlaine Harris

The Tuesday Talk! And Breaking News

So much breaking news from your Tuesday Femmes!

Laura’s CLOSE CALL is a Library Journal Best Mystery of 2016!

Hank’s SAY NO MORE is a Library Journal Best Thriller of 2016!

Catriona’s QUIET NEIGHBORS is a Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee!

Hank’s SAY NO MORE is a Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee!

 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Hurray! And I just realized--the three of us Tuesday Femmes are all past presidents of Sisters in Crime. That is pretty amazing. I remember my first encounter with SinC--I went to a meeting at Janet Halpin’s house--how did I know about it? Maybe...gosh, I don't know. Twelve years ago, I bet. I was so proud of myself for going. I did not know a soul. PRIME TIME was not even finished. But everyone was so supportive. And generous. It was the first time in a long time that I felt involved in a group of like-minded people--who were happy to discuss everything from semi-colons to murder. What was your first connection with SinC?

CATRIONA MCPHERSON: I remember very clearly. It was a phone call from my new New York editor, when I had just moved to the US. She said "You need to join MWA and SinC, sign up for Malice and get down to San Francisco for Bouchercon." And I swear the only words I understood were "San Francisco". I was so nervous going along for the first time - I changed outfits. And I have no memory of the speaker at that meeting. But the friendly faces of the the Sacramento Sisters? I remember them.

 

LAURA DISILVERIO: Goodness, I'm not sure I remember. I don't think I ever heard about SinC until after my first Lila Dare book TRESSED TO KILL, was published. Maybe my agent suggested I look into SinC? Or maybe I heard about it at Malice Domestic? Is it bad that I can't even remember my introduction to an organization which has meant so much to me? All the Sisters have been supportive and helpful from the get-go. We only got a Colorado chapter last year and I am so happy to be able to attend events locally.

HANK: Well, I agree. And I must say I am reassured that you don’t completely remember, either. I am trying to believe that my brain is so full, that something has to go. I do remember the meeting where I spilled an entire cup of coffee on someone's carpet, sigh. And the time we met at my house and had so many people were had to move the meeting up to our crazy third floor! We also had some photos for your SinC members calendar where we all posed. I was in the shot (taking in our "library" where each of us held one of the weapons from Clue. There were more people than weapons so I just held a notebook. Do you hold meetings at people's home? Or where?

CAT: We (Sacramento) meet monthly in a library - after lunch, of course. In December and again in June, we push the boat out and have a lavish lunch, as the meeting itself, with a gift exchange and games. (Our crime-themed Family Feud is legendary.) The NorCal chapter, of which I'm also a member, meets in houses and offices. One notable meeting was in a law office in a skyscraper with a view of the San Francisco Bay. I still don't understand how any of the lawyers ever get any work done with that view. Hank, I can symapthise about the cup of coffee. I once spilled wine on someone's cream carpet at a party and they refused to mop up. They said they'd deal with it later. And then we all sat there thinking about it. It was excruciating.

LAURA: Our Colorado chapter holds events at public places--libraries, restaurants with meeting rooms--for the most part, usually in the Denver area which is a bit of a haul for those of us in Colorado Springs or points south, but there's no way to get a location that is easy for everyone. We meet quarterly, on a Saturday, and have a craft workshop of some kind in the morning, eat lunch, and then a "content" workshop of some kind in the afternoon. The latter might be an FBI agent talking about something, a gun enthusiast discussing weapons, a coroner . . . you get the idea. Open board meetings follow for anyone who wants to attend, and they're usually at someplace near a good Happy Hour spot . . .

CAT: Okay here's what I'd like to know. Where and how did you get the invitation to be SinC president? How did that feel?  Did you say yes right away?

HANK: Ha! Cathy Pickens. At…some place, I actually forget, but I think it was Bouchercon….she said: can I chat with you for a moment? We stood in the hallway, and then she asked me. I was one hundred per cent shocked. I’m sure my jaw dropped. I never would have predicted….anyway, you know what? I said no. I was in the midst of writing THE OTHER WOMAN, or we were just about to launch it, and I just knew that I would not be able to do justice to either one if I tried to do both. Honored as I was! So she asked...how about next year? So of course I said yes. I will admit I looked at the list of past presidents, and tried to comprehend that my name would join that incredible group. How about you, Catriona?

CAT: We were at Malice in 2013 and Laura DiSilverio - someone I knew from sharing an editor - asked for a quick word at the quiet seats round the back of the escalators. Intriguing, I thought. When the question was put to me I was flabbergasted. (Remember that three years previously, I didn't know what SinC was.) I think I laughed and tried to explain that I didn't know enough and didn't have any of the necessary talents. Laura was adorably unreassuring. What I mean is that when someone as organised and experienced as Laura says she can handle it and adds the fact that Hank can handle it that says nothing at all about whether the likes of me is going to be any cop. But . . . I love SinC and was honoured and I think my life as a youngest sister kicked in. The boss sisters were telling me I could do it. Who was I argue?

LAURA: Hank called me from out of the blue. I was working in my office. I was totally unprepared for the honor of being asked and I took a few days, or a week--do you remember, Hank?--to think about it before I said, "Yes." I wanted to be sure I would have enough time to do the job right before I committed to taking it on. Hank was very reassuring and honest, filling me in on how much time she'd spend on the job, and where some of the pitfalls lurked. Ssh. Let's not mention those in case it keeps someone else from accepting the position somewhere down the road.

HANK: Yes, I do remember, of course! I think you took..um, well, it seemed like forever. Because what would we do if you had said no?  And yes, exactly. Our secret. My biggest accomplishment, I guess, was editing the WRITES OF PASSAGE anthology—which I still adore! And we created a new motto and a new mission statement and a reorganization of the SinC structure. And Laura and I, as past presidents, set up the Speakers Bureau. How about you two?

CAT: Great question! The thing you don't know when you start is that the year after your presidency is the one with all the work! That's the year you do the pre-Bouchercon workshop (Hank - your forensics day in Long Beach was amazing) and lead the team on the publishing summit report. I think the publishing summit report is the thing I'm most proud of. Report For Change was an investigation into what life is like for writers of colour, writers with disability and LGBTQ writers in the mystery genre. It was unlike anything I've ever done. Definitely the steepest curve I've ever ascended.

LAURA: I agree with Catriona--putting together the Publishing Summit report was a lot of work. Mine was about the health and well-being of indie bookstores and we put together a survey, sent it out to pretty well all the indie bookstores we could find email addresses for, and collated the results from 100+ stores that responded. It was great to learn so much about what it takes to open and run a successful bookstore these days. A labor of love for many people.

HANK: Love this! How about you, Femmes readers? Are you in Sisters in Crime? What has it meant for you?

When less is more

by Donna Andrews of the Femmes Fatales

One of the things I’ve learned over a couple of decades of critiquing and teaching writing: how careful you need to be with the word “more.”

“We need to know more about your character’s backstory.” Valid comment . . . but what if it inspires the budding writer to ruin her opening chapter with ten pages of dense backstory?

“I think you need more tension.” Also valid . . . unless the critiqued writer overdoes it and inserts multiple irrelevant snapping twigs for her heroine to jump at, turning a sane protagonist into a quivering mass of anxiety.

“You need more dialogue.” “You need more description.” All too often, saying either of these means the writer will go overboard in the other direction.

When someone says “this needs more salt,” you don’t take the top off the shaker and pour the contents in.  You add a little.  You check the flavor.  Add a little more.  Luckily, unlike salt, most of the stuff you need to add to your first draft can be taken out again if you go overboard.  But why create the need to take it out?  Why not just work economically to begin with?

These days, whenever I tell someone their writing needs more of something, I try to remember to add, “But don’t add too much.  See if you can add a page, not a chapter.  A paragraph, not a page.  Better yet, a sentence, not a paragraph.  Maybe just a few words.  See how few words you can add and still fix the issue.”

I am reminded of something that happened during the editing process of Chesapeake Crimes I.  The initial editor abandoned the project after the first round of edits—why is a long story that I don’t even know the whole of.  All I know is that I was picking up the pieces, going over the stories to see if I agreed that they were properly edited, working with the authors whose stories still had problems.

One author contacted me to say that she had liked her original draft of her story much better than the version that came out of her work with the first editor. I confess: I rolled my eyes and thought a few uncharitable things about writers who’re wedded to their own words, whether they work or not.

But then I reminded myself that I didn’t see eye-to-eye with all of what First Editor had done.  So I asked the author if she’d give me her original version and abide by my decision on which was better.

Bless her heart, she agreed.

And she was right.  Her original version was better.

Not perfect.  I could see why First Editor had told her that she needed to give more information.  There were a few data holes, non sequiturs, missed opportunities to ground clues earlier. Yeah, we needed a little more. But under First Editor’s flawed guidance, the author had turned a fairly short, efficient, amusing little short story into a huge, inflated balloon of a mess.  They’d doubled the word count. The whole thing wobbled like a Macy’s Christmas parade balloon in a frisky breeze. 

I plucked about fifty words out of the voluminous second draft and suggested where to insert them to fix the issues First Editor had identified. The author not only loved my suggestions, she came back with a few more tweaks that improved upon them.  I won’t claim the final result was the top story in the collection, but it belonged; it stood on its own merits in a volume that also contained Elaine Viets’s Agatha- and Anthony-winning “A Wedding Knife.”

So these days, I’m quick to sound a warning note when someone says a story needs more of something.

And I’m especially wary when someone says “I really like this, but I think we need more.  Maybe you should make it longer. Heck, expand it into a novel. There really is a novel here!”

Just say no, writers.

Because sometimes the best takeaway from a really good short story is that you want to know more.  You like these characters and want to spend more time with them. You enjoy being in this fictional world. You adore the writer’s voice.  You want to know more, and the fact that there is no more tantalizes you, makes you remember the story longer.  You remember that story long after you’ve finished reading.

And that’s a good thing.

Leave them wanting more. No one knows who originally uttered this bit of wisdom—leading contenders include P.T. Barnum, Walt Disney, and Gypsy Rose Lee. But if you’re a short story writer, it’s good advice.

What Happens Before the First Readers See My New Novel

Meet Bill Hopkins, one of my favorite writers and characters. Bill has writes the award-winnng Judge Rosswell Carew mysteries. I'm currently reading and enjoying "Courting Murder." Bill is a retired trial judge, prosecuting attorney, and attorney. He also advises a slew (that's a legal term) of authors about legal procedure, including me. Bill and his wife, author Sharon Woods Hopkins started their own publishing company. Today, Bill tells us about his first and most important reader. Welcome, Bill.                       -- Elaine Viets 

By Bill Hopkins for the Femmes Fatales.
Sharon Woods Hopkins, my wife, and I write under the brand name The Deadly Duo, with a slogan of Our Villains Give Murder a Bad Name®. Although such a project is in the works, we do not yet write the same book together. We each have our own series.

Sharon writes the Rhetta McCarter mystery series, featuring a banker/insurance agent who finds herself in the middle of some of the awfulest messes an amateur sleuth can fall into. My series involves Judge Rosswell Carew, who really wants to be a detective since it is a lot more interesting than sitting in a stuffy courtroom, listening to people lie.

A married couple who fits our description (both mystery writers) must be scarce since we rarely run across such a critter. I say that to say this: I’m going to tell you how we handle this blessing. I can’t tell you if it’s typical or good or workable. All I can tell you is this is the way we do it. Each of us criticizes the other’s work with love and compassion. If Sharon tells me she can’t understand some word (or sentence or scene or chapter), it’s cut without argument from me. She reads a huge amount of mystery novels and writes mystery novels. How could I find a better critic?

Sharon sees life playing itself out in front of a movie camera in her mind. She will edit my work with such criticisms as, “How can this character be there when two pages back, you say she is here?” Not everyone views things like this, especially me. So Sharon’s criticism helps me set the stage for my story.

Sharon also is heavy into motivation. Since she has read all my books, she’s clearly in tune with the hopes and desires of all my characters, even the evil ones. Often times, she will read part of my book and point out, “Rosswell wouldn’t do that” or “He wouldn’t take that action, he’d do this instead.” Obviously, I’ll use her suggestion, because I want my story to make sense.

Which brings me to a third way my wife helps me with my writing. Plot. Sometimes I write myself into a corner and can’t get out. Sharon will always find a way to cure this problem, even if it means climbing back three or four branches of the plot tree, where I have to start over.

What do I bring to the table?

Dialogue is one thing. All my professional life as a judge and lawyer has been devoted to listening people talk. That’s helped me hone my dialogue skills. Another thing that’s helped is something I’d recommend to every novel writer: I write plays. It’s a lot of fun for me to scratch out pages and pages of dialog and then go back to fill in nonverbal necessities.

Another thing is I’m a good source of how our legal system works. And, if Sharon says something like, “I want this no good to be found guilty in a jury trial,” we can always make it happen. If I can’t figure out exactly how to answer a question, I’ll make up something that’s “almost” right. After all, our novels won’t be sent to an appellate court for review.

There’s no question that having a critic who is the person closest to me in the whole world is wonderful!

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Retired Judge Bill Hopkins has published five novels as well as poems, short stories, and non-fiction. He's had several short plays produced. Bill is a member of Horror Writers Association, Missouri Writers Guild, SEMO Writers Guild, Heartland Writers Guild, and Sisters In Crime. http://www.deadlyduo.net/. Amazon Author Page:
http://tinyurl.com/Bill-Hopkins-Amazon-AuthorPage

 

Research at the Althing

by Toni L.P. Kelner / Leigh Perry

I'm happy to welcome my husband Steve as today's guest. He recently published a Viking mystery story in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and we Kelners are very proud of him.

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Researching "Death at the Althing"

by Stephen P. Kelner, Jr.

There's a sad-but-true joke about an author being asked "how long did it take you to write your book?" The answer: "All my life." When doing historical mysteries, this is way too close to accurate. Especially this particular story, "Death at the Althing," which I have tinkered with off and on for about 16 years.

As I noted in my book on motivating writers, it isn't a race. Good thing!

It's risky to write a historical mystery as an amateur historian, of course, since someone can catch you out. I understand that Regency romance writers have a really hard time, since fans of the genre and period know what people wear right down to the buttons. One thing about 10th-century Iceland that is a huge advantage and disadvantage: there's a lot we don't know.

We have learned a lot about the culture from the legendary sagas, many of which are set in Iceland or written by Icelanders like the great Snorri Sturluson. But how accurate would your view of the modern US be from watching The Avengers? Even discounting the obvious components like the big green guy, does it depict New York City citizens the right way? Do we have schwarma on every block? Would Thor really talk like that?

Such stories can give you a flavor, and a sense of the major cultural assumptions, but not much about daily life. One of my characters is the son of a poet -- not a poet himself, because I'm not going to risk trying to write good alliterative poetry -- but that means he is strongly influenced by the sagas and legends, so he and his fellow detective both quote from classic poems like the Hávamal ("The Song of the High One"), attributed to Odin, and it informs their assumptions about their world. That allows me to use the sagas to define this character, whether it is typical or not.

How I do research is pretty simple: I read a lot of books about the Viking era generally, and Iceland in particular, but I also look for good illustrated kids' books. Why? Because they often show the person, in context. That helps me describe a person or setting - at the worst, I can describe the picture in question. Thanks to the Internet and cosplayers, I can also find people who spent a lot more time studying old Scandinavian garb than I every want to, and look at pictures of them and how their clothes hang, and what colors they are, and even how comfortable they may be to wear.

Going to museums helps, too. The wonderful Jorvik museum in York, UK, not only shows you artifacts dug up on the site, they have a model Viking-era village you ride through, and they have pictures and books you can take with you to remember them.

But in some ways it's a good thing it took me this long. We've learned a lot in the 35 years since I read my first Icelandic saga for a college class ("The Heroic Epic in Northern Europe," still taught by professor Stephen Mitchell at Harvard). The earliest draft I have extant, circa 1999, is the same year that Google came out in beta and AOL was state-of-the-art. Now I can virtually explore Thingvellir, the original site of the Icelandic parliament the Althing and the setting for my story. I have found sites of academics discussing the sagas and recent archeological digs (e.g., the second Viking site in Newfoundland), and amateurs who have put up websites with clothing patterns and lists of commonly-used poetic metaphors ("kennings"), and even common Viking nicknames. I can tap the dedication and expertise of people all over the world, and achieve some level of verisimilitude.

Contrary to what a lot of people think, you don't have to know everything about an era or place. You just need enough to be credible. That is, you need enough concrete description to fool the average modern reader, and to avoid obvious mistakes. For example, an early draft referred to the trees at Thingvellir and specifically over the Law Rock, where the laws were announced and discussed. Go to the link here for a picture.  See anything missing? Like trees?

But avoiding mistakes isn't enough. You also need a few positive descriptions. What did people wear on their heads? It's cold in Iceland! What did they eat and drink? How late was the sun out in summer? And if you can combine all that with an interesting fact that can contribute to your story and your character and surprise the reader, you've got the key components for a historical mystery.

 

Welcome a New Femme!

Laura DiSilverio Is a Femme Fatale

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: It is very difficult to type and jump up and down at the same time. But you have to believe that is exactly what I am doing.

I am so thrilled, and honored, and delighted, and every other wonderful word to be able to introduce  you to our newest Femme!  You probably already know her—the incredibly talented, immensely  successful, ridiculously prolific and endlessly fascinating Laura DiSilverio. She’s been a US Air Force intelligence officer, she’s written—what, 20 mysteries? Four series and a standalone, with more to come? Her newest thriller, CLOSE CALL, is a Library Journal Best of 2016!

Like her sister Tuesday bloggers, Catriona and me, Laura is a past president of National Sisters in Crime. She is also a dear and treasured friend, with a beautiful and talented family and a wildly successful career in progress.

Please join me in a standing ovation for the wonderful Laura DiSilverio.

Hi, all. I am so excited to be joining the Femmes. Who knew I'd be 50+ before anyone referred to me as a femme fatale? Better late than never. If Helen Mirren can do it, so can I.

Anyway, for those of you who don't know me, I've been writing full time for 12 years, traditionally published since 2010, and have 20 books available at your local indie store, B&N or Amazon. Most of my books are cozy mysteries (although I'm moving away from the cozy world, I think--more on that soon) which I've written under my own name, but also as Lila Dare and Ella Barrick. I've also published two standalone suspense novels with a third coming in September (THE LAST WEEKEND), and a young adult dystopian series, the Incubation Trilogy. (There's exciting news upcoming on that--keep an eye out here.)

Blog Post Subjects

I'll be posting here every third Tuesday. Some of the things I've been pondering recently (and which are, therefore, likely to turn into blog posts) are    

•         becoming an empty nester (an event that happens for me this coming August--sob!)
•         caring for aging parents
•         making friends when you're no longer meeting people through your kids' activities
•        nurturing friendships
•        coming to terms with aging in all its glory and infamy
•        constantly reinventing myself as a writer
•         figuring out what's important in life and living in consonance with that

Of course, I'll also be writing about fun and frivolous stuff, about books I've read and movies I've seen (LA LA LAND gets my vote for Best Picture), and other life events. If you have any ideas for topics you'd like to see me pontificate on or make jokes about, please let me know in the comments. I'm looking forward to engaging with all of you Femmes--bloggers, commenters and lurkers. Thanks for welcoming me to this blog.

LOOK BACK IN ANGER!

I try not to force modern opinions on older books. It’s just not fair. No matter how often I may wince, I can’t rewrite the history of social development.

That’s my first disclaimer. My second is that I am a fan of Margery Allingham’s, and I have read all her work, probably several times over.

Recently I reread THE FASHION IN SHROUDS, which I thought would be extra entertaining. I am a diehard Project Runway fan, and since this book is set in the fashion industry at least partly, I was anticipating big fun. Albert Campion’s sister, Val, is a very successful dress designer, and has single-handedly resuscitated a dying fashion house. Val has met a man, Alan Dell, who owns an airplane manufacturing company, so he’s a successful executive (and creator), too, though he is still on the rise while Val is at the top of her game. It’s worthy of note that Amanda Fitton, Campion’s future fiancé, is an engineer at Dell’s company. (Yay! A big thumbs up.)

Alan falls for the actress Georgia Wells. Her first husband’s skeleton has just been found, and during the course of the book, her current husband is murdered. That doesn’t give Alan pause. But in the course of the book, the scales fall from his eyes, and he sees what’s right in front of him. He takes Val for a walk, and here’s what he says: “. . . Will you marry me and give up your independence, the enthusiasm which you give your career, your time and your thought? . . .In return . . . I should assume all responsibility for you. I would pay all your bills to any amount which my income might afford. I would make all decisions which were not directly in your province, but on the other hand I would like to feel that I might discuss everything with you if I wanted to; but only because I wanted to, mind you; not as your right. And until I died you would be the only woman. You would be my care, my mate as in plumber, my possession if you like.”

There’s more that’s just as horrifying, but you get the idea. And Val, a capable businesswoman with an international reputation, can hardly wait to jump at this chance.

Here’s the thing: obviously Allingham herself was no one’s possession. She was a talented and celebrated writer. Her husband collaborated with her. I’ll bet he didn’t tell her not to bother her pretty little head with paying bills.

Or am I being the revisionist I have tried not to be? Does this make you wince, too?

Charlaine Harris

The Backstory: How to Change Your Luck

By Joanna Campbell Slan

Author’s Note: For every story, there’s a backstory, that little-known information that explains the present. I think this is one is particularly appropriate for Friday the 13^th!

Growing up in Vincennes, Indiana, there wasn’t much to do on lazy summer days. My mother taught ballet in our home, and that meant staying out of the house during the long class hours on weekends. “Occupy yourself,” she’d say. So I did.

I found myself drawn to a clover patch in a neighbor’s yard. For hours I would sit, search for four-leaf clovers, and dream about the day I’d escape my tiny hometown. That would take planning and good luck. Needless to say, finding that elusive lucky talisman proved more difficult than I’d imagined. But one day, everything changed — because I had a brainstorm.

Logically, a four-leaf clover should stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. After all, it’s an anomaly. Rather than stare at all the three-leaf clovers, I needed to change my focus and try to find the one clover that was DIFFERENT.

Since then, I’ve become a whiz at finding four-leaf clovers. In fact, I can glance down while walking and see one.

Here…try it yourself. Which of these clovers are DIFFERENT?

 

 

 

I’m convinced that changing your luck is largely a matter of changing focus. Too often we bang our heads against an imaginary wall rather than step back, assess the situation, find where to apply leverage, and proceed. We put all our energy into the wrong actions, rather than pausing, reflecting, and regrouping.

Over the years, I’ve collected a lot of four-leaf clovers, and I’m happy to share them. But first, you'll need to comment on this blog post. I'll pick a lucky commenter and send her/him one of my good luck charms.  

Another key to good luck is being open to opportunities. Each month I send out a newsletter with all sorts of cool stuff.  You'll always find “Deals and Steals,” bargain-priced books, including at least one of my reads that’s absolutely free. You can sign up for my newsletter at my website:  http://www.JoannaSlan.com

This weekend (1/13 and 1/14 only) you can get “Kiki Lowenstein and the Good Luck Charm” at no cost from Amazon. Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/Lowenstein-Lucky-Charm-Scrap-N-Craft-Mystery-ebook/dp/B007IUYY7K/ 

Or click on this OFFER.

May good luck be with you! 

What now?

by Leigh Perry

I recently finished the manuscript of The Skeleton Paints a Picture, and by recently, I mean at about 4:30 Sunday morning. No, I was not up that early--I'd been working all night. I'm not bragging about the hours I put in. I'm a night owl writer, and do most of my writing at night on into the wee hours. Still, working that late was special. I was determined to get that baby done and emailed to my agent.

Excuse me, I have to check email to see if I've heard back from my agent. ... Nope, not yet.

I confess I was very late on the deadline, so I was particularly motivated to burn the midnight oil, the noon oil, and whatever other oil was available.

Was that a ding? Did I get an email? Let me check. ... Never mind. Just some Nigerian prince.

Still, the fact is, as I approach the end of a book, I do go into a sedentary version of a mad dash to the finish line. It's hate to leave the computer for anything less than the plague or the holidays. Okay, it wasn't a plague--it was a cold. But it ran through my household, hitting three of the for of us, and only missing the fourth because she had the good sense to hide in bed. And I missed several days of work as a result, making the end-of-book frenzy even more frenzied.

Pardon me, I have to use the facilities. Meaning the facilities on my computer that allow me to check for email. ... Nothing.

But all that is over now, and other than the very rare email check, I can do something else other than write or edit. But...what now?

Ha ha, you thought i was going to check email again. But I can resist. I can be strong! I can... I can check my email. ... Rats.

Well, obviously, given the time I hit SAVE and SEND, my first step was to go to bed. For many hours. Then on Sunday, I lounged about eating bon bons. Just kidding. I washed dishes, shoveled snow, and cleaned poop out of the guinea pig cage. Do I know how to party or what? Okay, we did eat dinner out and even made a toast. That was plenty festive. Afterward, I slept some more.

Whoops, I should check on dinner. Really, dinner. You believe me, right? Even though my husband is actually picking up takeout on his way home?

Monday morning, I was back in the routine of drive the kid to school, bring the kid home from school. But I also took part of the day off. I played Facebook games, I played on Neopets.com (my favorite game site), I read an entire book (Apprentice in Death by J.D. Robb), and I watched two episodes of Criminal Minds. And it wasn't all fun and games. I dealt with some bills, filed some papers, and  I even cooked dinner! Okay, it was from a box, but still, the stove was involved. Chores and TV, just like a real person.I also went on social media a lot, and read some news stories, but frankly it's all depressing other than the cat pictures, so I'm over that.

Today, more of the same. I'm dealing with bills and dishes, and wondering if I can read the surface of my desk. Plus I'm starting to prep for a major kitchen renovation project due to start at the end of the month and lasting six weeks. (Which I am advised that given the difficulty in scheduling construction is even tougher than me scheduling my writing deadlines, probably means starting in February and lasting until the end of time itself.)
Was that the doorbell? My agent has never stopped by personally, since he lives in a different state, but maybe... Nope, UPS delivering more bedding for the guinea pigs to poop in. (It's the circle of life.)

Of course, I know that when I do hear from my agent...

And let me say that he is in no way being slow. He just got the freaking manuscript Sunday morning, except that of course he wasn't up that early and probably wasn't working that day, so he really only got it Monday morning and it's Tuesday. I'm just obsessing.Anyway, once I hear from my agent, I'll likely have some changes to make. Then it'll go to my editor, who will certainly find more changes I should make. Ditto the copy editor. So I know I'm not really done. But for now I'm done.And honestly, I feel very odd, a little off-balance. The celebrating is nice, but I can only celebrate so much. Getting the chores tackled is necessary, and somewhat satisfying, if not fun. But you know what I'm really looking forward to, now that the book is done?Writing something new, and starting the whole crazy ride all over again.