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When Writing Means Risk

When Jaden Terrell started researching A Taste for Blood and Ashes, about the ugly practice of "soring" horses, she was warned by a source, "They'll kill me and they'll kill you." The award-winning author persisted. The Femmes welcome Jaden today.

By Jaden Terrell, guest of the Femmes Fatales.

“I’m thinking of writing about the soring controversy,” I said.
A horse trainer had mentioned leaving the Walking Horse show world because of the pervasive practice of using caustic chemicals and other painful techniques to get the distinctive high-stepping gait known as the Big Lick. “Could I take you to lunch one day and ask you some questions? I’ll give you a shout-out in the acknowledgments.”
Her back stiffened. “I’m not talking about that,” she said. “They’ll kill me, and they’ll kill you too.”
“It’s not an exposé. It’s just a novel. It’s fiction. I’m not naming any names.” I gave her a reassuring smile. “I won’t even put yours in the credits if you don’t want me to.”
She shook her head, and this time there was fear her voice. “It doesn’t matter. They’ll find out, and then we’ll both be dead. Seriously, you should drop this.”

I did drop it, but not because I believed I would be killed and not because I’m especially brave (I’m not). I dropped it partly because I couldn’t find anyone willing to talk to me and because I came to believe that the Horse Protection Act of 1970 had finally stopped the practice.
I was wrong.
Shortly after my second Jared McKean book came out in 2012, I started hearing about soring again. It seemed the more ways the government found to identify the practice, the more ways some trainers found to get around it.
I watched YouTube interviews with trainers who had gone to prison for soring. I talked to horse owners who had left the Walking Horse world because of it. I read articles and watched presentations and talked, first to vendors at the world-famous Walking Horse Celebration who said soring was ubiquitous, and then to trainers who said the inspectors can prove any horse has been sored just by annoying it until it responds. I watched undercover videos of trainers “stewarding” horses—an innocuous word for the barbaric practice of teaching a horse not to respond to pain by beating it when it does.
I felt that tug again, the one you get when an idea grabs you by the heart and won’t let go. I thought of that long-ago warning: "They’ll kill me, and they’ll kill you too." I told myself that with soring stories all over the internet, I could hardly be accused of being the one to break the news.

Besides, I had a series character who owned and loved horses, a private detective with a soft spot for animals and a hard spot for animal abusers. Maybe it was finally time to write that story.
One challenge of writing a book about a controversial issue is how to write a strong story without preaching. I liked the way Tim Robbins handled Dead Man Walking. His even-handedness forced viewers to think through the issues surrounding the death penalty and come to a more nuanced decision that acknowledged the very real concerns of both sides.
John Grisham took on the same topic in The Chamber. He too addressed both sides of the issue, but added an extra dimension. He madethe death row prisoner a vile, unrepentant racist and murderer. Both Robbins and Grisham were sharing an important message, but that message was secondary to the prime objective – give the audience a good story.
To make my novel a good story, I had to create complex, shades-of-gray characters. Once I knew each of them and what they wanted, the story began to fall into place.

I started with a suspicious barn fire, which Jared investigates. Zach and Carlin Underwood, the couple who own the barn, are “sound-horse” activists, meaning they are anti-soring. Yet, the fire examiner’s report shows that the accelerants used were chemicals commonly used in soring. The Underwoods’ finances have been stretched to the breaking point by medical bills. The couple suggests they’re being targeted by other members of the Walking Horse community because of their activism. While sifting through the ashes of the ruined barn, Jared finds human bones. Who died? How did the person come to be there?
There is no morally defensible argument for soring, so I focused on how and why it happens, and why otherwise decent people who think they love horses either do it or allow it to be done.
Some of the anti-soring rules are so vague that no two inspectors interpret them in quite the same way. This means there’s plenty of room for corruption.
There comes a point where the characters spring to life. That’s how I fell in love with the Underwoods, a Tennessee Walking Horse stallion nicknamed Judge, a handsome handyman with a past, and a beautiful gold-digger obsessed with fire.
Shortly after I finished the book, I showed it to my buddy at the feed store. I'll call him Tom. “That’s a fine-looking book,” Tom said. “I hope you’ll be okay.”
I laughed, a little nervously. “Of course I’ll be okay. This stuff is all over the internet now. There’s a lot of people talking about this who are way more visible than I am.”
“I know,” he said.. “But they’re out there, and you’re here.”

 ************************************************************************************

Jaden Terrell is a Shamus Award finalist and the internationally published author of the Nashville-based Jared McKean mysteries. She is a contributor to the Killer Nashville Noir anthology, International Thriller Writers’ The Big Thrill magazine, and Now Write! Mysteries, a collection of writing exercises published by Tarcher/Penguin for writers of crime fiction. A recipient of the 2017 Killer Nashville Builder Award, along with the 2009 Magnolia Award and the 2017 Silver Quill Award for service to the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, this former special education teacher now offers private coaching, live workshops, and online courses for writers. Learn more at: http://www.jadenterrell.com.

Tools and Tricks That Changed the Game

Catriona writes: I'm at the beach. And, as luck would have it, Jessie Lourey and Shannon Baker are on a blog tour. So Femmes Fatales is the lucky recipient of quite simply the best, most lightbulby and least precious blog about the craft of writing I've ever read. I almost wish I wasn't at the beach so I could start doing all of this right now. Almost.

And now: Jess and Shannon.

*Door bangs open, feet clatter on the foyer, laughing, bags rustling*

Hi everybody! We made it!

Jess Lourey and Shannon Baker here again, making the rounds on our Third Annual Double-Booked Blog Tour. Thanks to Catriona for inviting us. Visiting the Femmes is always a highlight and especially so this time because today is the book birthday for Shannon’s third book in the Kate Fox series, Bitter Rain.

Mercy’s Chase, the follow up to Jess’s wild thrill ride, Salem’s Cipher, is due out in 12 days (available for pre-order).

Looks like Jess has the chips and salsa on the table and the margaritas poured, so help yourselves and we’ll get started. Stick around because we’re both giving away books and the details are below.

Shannon: I’m very excited today to tell you about the latest trick I’

ve discovered to help me become a better writer: SPRINTS! I know many of you probably do this already and I’m late to the game, but man-oh-man, has it made a difference in my output.

The basic idea of a sprint is to set a timer and eliminate all distractions and write without thought of editing. At the end of the time, take a break. Then begin again.

At a recommendation, I bought Chris Fox’s book, 5000 Words Per Hour. It’s a short book, only 80 pages, so a quick read. The principles weren’t new to me: avoid distractions, plan ahead what you want to write, do not go back and edit. But I’d never actually set a timer or kept a spreadsheet. And I rarely adhered to the “absolutely no distractions” rule.

Within a week of this method, I’ve increased my output from 1000/hour (and that’s when I actually maintained a certain discipline with no cheating on Facebook or email) to 2000/hour. I do half hour sprints and take whatever break I want. I check email, talk to my husband, walk about, (have been known to do jumping jacks if I need to feed the Fitbit—only because I’m crazy) For years, I’ve set my word quota at 2000/day. Now I’m easily doing 3000 and it’s only taking me a couple of hours, with breaks included.

Here’s the kicker: I haven’t noticed the quality of writing has diminished.

Jess, what’s been a game-changer for you?

Jess: Crap, I want it to be sprints! (Leaves to order 5000 Words Per Hour; comes back) All right. For me, my latest game changer is technology. Specifically, self-publishing technology. In June, I got the rights back to my first ten Murder by Month Mysteries. It’s been a whirlwind to get them formatted and published, and then to let the world know that the books even exist.

Without Vellum, the book-formatting software that

 is so good I was willing to buy a Mac for it (Vellum doesn’t work on PCs), and AdEspresso, the ad assistant that makes the byzantine world of Facebook ads navigable, I wouldn’t have been able to get the books out as quickly as I have, and they wouldn’t be selling as well.

Shannon: Vellum is amazing. I avoided the whole Mac dilemma by a) getting a writing partner who does this stuff and b) using Mac In Cloud. I’m totally going to check out AdEspresso because that whole FB ads thing makes me cry.

My second trick is what I call the Val Kilmer. I read somewhere that Val Kilmer is one of those method actors who completely embraces a role. He insists on being called his character’s name even when not on the set. He dresses as the character 24/7 and never breaks the role. This is a very old memory and might not even be correct, but that’s irrelevant. It’s my trick title so I’m sticking with it.

What this means for me, is that when I sit down to write, I try to weasel myself deeply inside the brain of my point of view character. I see what she sees, smell through her nose, and process emotions in her heart. It’s not easy.

The last few books I’ve written have been first person, and whenever I catch myself writing those telling words (I see, I notice, I hear) I stop myself and ask, how many times do I (Shannon) say to myself, “I taste the milk and notice it’s sour.” Instead, wouldn’t I be more likely to think in my head, “Dear lord, spit it out!”

By self-inducing schizophrenia with my point of view character, I believe my writing is more immediate and vibrant. But I’m always looking for ways to improve, so, Jess, what have you got for me?

Jess:  I love the Val Kilmer! I think that sort of method writing is the best way to go.

My final tip is a simple, elegant plotting hack that follows the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) theory.

1. I develop my main character, freewriting on her, searching the internet for photos of her, listening to bits and snatches of conversation to figure out what her syntax is.
2. I decide what she wants more than anything. To give it extra punch, I try to align her desire with something I really want (to be heard, to feel part of something bigger, to get answers, etc.). I write this single goal on a brightly-colored notecard.
3. Grabbing a pack of white notecards, I begin to scribble all the obstacles to her reaching that goal. I aim for eighty or so, one per notecard.
4. As subplots begin to emerge and cohere, I may give them their own color (purple for a romantic subplot, blue for a friendship subplot, etc.).
5. Then, I lay all those cards out on my living room floor, rearranging, adding, and tossing until I have a neat and sweet package.
6. I start writing the book.

There’s something about getting physical like that with my book that makes me feel in control of what is, really, a crazy-difficult process.

Readers, what tips do you have to add?

 

GIVEAWAY

We are each giving away three signed books on the Lourey/Baker Double-Booked Tour. To enter to win, sign up for our newsletter!

• Jess Lourey newsletter sign-up (when you sign up, you’ll automatically receive a free copy of May Day, the first in Jess’ comic caper mysteries):BookHip.com/KJNSX
• Shannon Baker newsletter sign-up (when you sign up you’ll receive a free Kate short story) :https://mailchi.mp/d5ccfe1840ea/shannonsbooknews

For every comment you make along our tour stop, you’ll get another entry in the contest. Don’t be shy; we love talking to you.

 

DOUBLE-BOOKED BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

 

August 23: "Two Middle-aged Introverts Write a Sex Scene" on Criminal Minds

August 26: "Write What You Fear" on Writer Unboxed

August 27: "The Five Stages of Author Grief" on BOLO Books

August 29: "Tools and Tricks that Changed the Game" on Femmes Fatales

August 31: "Write a Great Scene" on Fiction University

September 2: “Author Interview” on Jess Lourey

September 4: "The Unexpected Places Authors Get Their Ideas" on Wicked Cozy Authors

September 8: "A Day in the Life of Our Characters" on Dru’s Book Musings

September 13: "Most Embarrassing Author Moment" on Jungle Red Writers

September 26: "Create an Author Persona" on The Creative Penn

TBA: “More than the Sum of Our Parts” on Career Authors

ABOUT SHANNON AND JESS

Shannon Baker is author of the Kate Fox mystery series set in rural Nebraska cattle country, and the Nora Abbott mystery series, fast-paced mix of Hopi Indian mysticism, environmental issues, and murder. Now a resident of Tucson, Baker spent 20 years in the Nebraska Sandhills, where cattle outnumber people by more than 50:1. She is proud to have been chosen Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ 2014 and 2017 Writer of the Year.

 A lover of the outdoors, she can be found backpacking in the Rockies, traipsing to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, skiing mountains and plains, kayaking lakes, hiking, cycling, and scuba diving whenever she gets the chance. Arizona sunsets notwithstanding, Baker is, and always will be, a Nebraska Husker. Go Big Red. Visit Shannon at www.Shannon-Baker.com.  Bitter Rain is an August release.

Jess Lourey (rhymes with “dowry”) is an Anthony, Lefty, and Agatha-nominated author best known for her critically-acclaimed Mira James Mysteries, which have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist, the latter calling her writing “a splendid mix of humor and suspense.” She is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft’s Excellence in Teaching fellowship, a regular Psychology Today blogger, and a sought-after workshop leader and keynote speaker who delivered the 2016 “Rewrite Your Life” TEDx Talk. Mercy’s Chase, the second in the feminist thriller series Lee Child calls “highly recommended,” releases September 8. You can find out more at www.jessicalourey.com.

Hank Discovers A Law of the Writing Universe

I think I have discovered the theory of book relativity. Here’s how it goes. The amount of craziness is inversely proportional to the number of days left before launch day. Trust me, this is true.

Of course, the joy is increasingly wonderful too, as the rave reviews for Trust Me come in. (It’s not all cakes and ale. One person on the otherwise incredible Goodreads gave me a one star and called the book "extraordinarily dumb," but everyone is entitled to their opinion.) T

 

The Booklist starred review says “It’s Ryan’s first standalone, and it’s a knockout. First rate psychological suspense”. (So take that, guy.)

Launch day today! What to do, how to help, what to say? What to wear to Brookline Booksmith tonight. It is ONE THOUSAND DEGREES in Boston, gang. Thank goodness for air conditioning. And besides the chaos of launch day,

I’m writing my new book, and the deadline, is of course, today. La dee dah, and I am counting blessings that I am lucky enough to do that.

So here’s what else I’ve been doing for the past week or so: I wrote an article for CrimeReads about my Top Ten true crime narrative nonfiction books written by reporters. (Talk about a niche article!) Like In Cold Blood, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and Zodiac, and Blood and Money. And more. And that’ll be published soon!

The reason for that particular article? In TRUST ME, main character Mercer is writing the true crime book about a terrible murder, and she realizes it’s difficult to do… How can you write a true crime novel if you don’t know the truth?

I wrote an upcoming article for Criminal Element about my top ten reporter movies. Because sometimes the best stories are not girl gets boy, but girl gets story. Broadcast News. All the President’s Men. His Girl Friday. The Big Clock. Spotlight. Why that article? The main character in Trust Me gives up a burgeoning career as a magazine reporter to stay home with her husband and young daughter…only to have them killed in a tragic accident. (Or was it?) That intense hunt for tracking down the truth is also the core of Trust Me. Who can you trust if you can’t trust yourself? And how can you write the true story of someone else’s life—if you can’t write your own life?

Lisa Gardner and I did a chat about psychological suspense—she interviewed me, can you believe it? And that will be out soon. I did a piece for Mystery Scene Magazine with Shari Lapena, B.A. Paris, Lisa Gardner and Mary Kubica about the challenges of writing psychological suspense. And that’ll be out soon!

My wonderful publisher, Forge, asked me to write an essay on the origin story of Trust Me for their blog. And that is so fascinating! You can read it here, https://www.torforgeblog.com/2018/08/09/three-sides-to-every-story/

but the very short version: Trust Me comes from two huge criminal trials that I was intimately involved in…and what happened during and after them. And the story I –somehow—created that’s a mix and meld and pursuit and rethinking of both of them and more. There are three sides to every story, I learned. Yours, mine, and the truth.

But the result is Trust Me: One obsessed journalist. One troubled mom. Two smart woman face off in a high-stakes cat and mouse game to prove their truth about a terrible crime. But which one is the cat and which one is the mouse? I dare you to find the liar.

Femmes, I am keeping the floor here, one more second, to thank you. We are together every single day. We’ve been here together for more than ten years, can you believe it? This is a big big day for me, and I am incredibly honored to share it with you.

So let’s talk true crime—what’s your favorite true crime book? Or your favorite reporter movie?

And I—let’s be honest here—want you to buy Trust Me. Right now, if possible!

So instead of a book giveaway, I’ll give some hilarious Trust Me loot—good stuff and some surprises!--- to three lucky commenters. (And isn't it nice to hear this from Larry David?) 

 

Love love love you. And thank you!

PS: If you want to copy any of these photos and put them on social media to celebrate launch day, that could be great! This is another one the publisher would love to see everywhere! With #TrustMe!

Good news/bad news

by Donna Andrews of the Femmes Fatales.

The good news is that I’m almost on schedule to finish the first draft of Terns of Endearment before I head off for Bouchercon. Only a first draft, mind you; it will need plenty of revising and polishing. But still, almost on schedule at the moment--and possibly by bedtime absolutely on schedule.

The bad news is that everything in my immediate surroundings shows it.

Take my deck, for example. I had good intentions for the deck this year. Sweep it clear of leaves and debris. Clean up all the pots and planters. Figure out which perennials survived the winter. Replace the ones that didn’t with new perennials. And then weed and water regularly. And get out to enjoy it regularly of an evening, with a glass of limeade or a Diet Coke.

I did most of the sweeping. Most of the pots now contain plants, and I think most of them are even the plants I wanted them to contain, but it’s kind of hard to tell. Nature took care of the watering--maybe a little too much so--and I fell down on the weeding. The picture at the top? That’s what it looks like right now. The really tall, exuberant, healthy plants are mostly weeds. Not really the optimal environment for that contemplative limeade or soda break.

Not a banner year for the houseplants, either.

Sigh.

The inside’s not quite as bad, for three reasons. First and foremost, I have cleaners who come every two weeks, so I have to pick the clutter up enough that the cleaners will actually have space to clean. Second, while going out on the deck requires a conscious decision, I do have to pass through the inside of the house, if only on the way between my bed and my computer. Sooner or later, I can’t stand it anymore and I tidy a bit. And third--tidying’s the easiest possible form of writing avoidance there is. Stuck for a next sentence? What a great time to take the dirty glasses to the kitchen, and the recycling out to the bin, and at least carry everything back to the room it belongs in, and while I’m there how much of a chore is it to put most of it away.

But Saturday morning I had to go down to the basement to get dressed. That’s where the clean clothes were, in the dryer. Also Sunday morning. I’m writing this on Sunday afternoon, and hoping that maybe, when I finish drafting it I’ll find some time to put the clean laundry away. It could be worse. At least I’m not getting dressed out of the dirty clothes hamper.  I do have some standards.

Then again, I’d be perfectly capable of throwing those standards overboard if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m almost on schedule. Less than a day behind the schedule I made for myself when I started on the draft.

But I remind myself of my motto: as long as I make my quota, it doesn’t matter what else I fail to get done--I’m allowed to call that day a success.

So I’m going to dive back into the draft again, and with luck, by bedtime, I’ll be able to boast of that success.

I just wished success looked a little tidier right now.

When A Spoiler Isn't a Spoiler

By Kate Carlisle, author of Buried in Books.

    All mystery readers hate spoilers. Today, the Femmes are delighted to welcome New York Times bestselling cozy author Kate Carlisle. Kate has some questions for you: Did she post a spoiler? How long should a writer wait to discuss what happened in an earlier book? Help her out, won't you? -- Elaine Viets

 

My latest book, Buried in Books, is the 12^th book in my Bibliophile Mystery series, which centers on book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright. Brooklyn solves murders that are linked to the rare books in her care, and the themes of that book are echoed in the modern-day mystery.

 

I recently posted the back cover copy of the book on my Facebook page, and one reader objected. "Spoiler alert!" this reader said. "I'm only on the second book in the series."

 I was really taken aback, and immediately started wondering if I'd done something wrong. Should I promote Buried in Books without including the back cover copy—what the book is about—because it reveals a major turning point in the relationship between the main characters? At what point have we waited long enough before we're allowed to reveal how characters' relationships may develop over the course of a series? How do we weigh the desires of new readers against those of longtime fans? Because I assure you, fans of the Bibliophile Mysteries definitely wanted to know the information that this new reader considered to be a spoiler.

 Okay, brace yourself. I'm going to post the back cover copy from the book so you can understand better what I'm talking about. Um… er… spoiler alert?

 

"Matrimony and murder collide as San Francisco book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright walks down the aisle. . .

"Brooklyn has it all covered. She's triple-checked her wedding to-do list, and everything is on track for the upcoming ceremony with the love of her life, security expert Derek Stone.

 "Not everyone has been as lucky in love as Brooklyn. Her old library college roommates Heather and Sara lost touch twelve years ago when Sara stole Heather's boyfriend. Brooklyn was caught in the middle and hasn't seen her former besties since their falling-out. When they both arrive in town for the annual librarians' convention and then show up at her surprise bridal shower, Brooklyn is sure drama will ensue. But she's touched when the women seem willing to sort out their differences and gift her rare copies of The Three Musketeers and The Blue Fairy Book.

"Brooklyn's prewedding calm is shattered when one of her formerly feuding friends is found murdered and Brooklyn determines that one of the rare books is a forgery. She can't help but wonder if the victim played a part in this fraud, or if she was targeted because she discovered the scam. With a killer and con artist on the loose, Brooklyn and Derek—with the unsolicited help of their meddling mothers—must catch the culprit before their big day turns into a big mess." 

 

Still with me? So you can see why she objected, yes? She's reading book two, If Books Could Kill, where Brooklyn and Derek are in the will they/won't they phase of their romance. She didn't want to know that they're getting married in Buried in Books.

So what do you think? Was I wrong to post this back cover copy on social media without warning readers that it contains spoilers? How long after a book comes out should authors wait before publicly talking about things that happen in the story? How would you have handled this situation?

*********************************************************************

Kate Carlisle is the New York Times bestselling author of two ongoing series: the Bibliophile Mysteries featuring San Francisco bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright, whose rare book restoration skills uncover old secrets, treachery and murder; and the Fixer-Upper Mysteries, featuring Shannon Hammer, a home contractor who discovers not only skeletons in her neighbors' closets, but murder victims, too. Hallmark Movies & Mysteries is bringing the Fixer-Upper Mysteries to TV in a series of movies starring Jewel and Colin Ferguson. A native Californian, Kate worked in television production for many years before turning to writing. Visit Kate online at www.KateCarlisle.com.

 Three Fixer-Upper Mystery movies have aired already on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries: Framed for Murder, Concrete Evidence, and Deadly Deed. They changed the titles for the movies, but they are based on my books THIS OLD HOMICIDE, CROWNED AND MOLDERING, and DECK THE HALLWAYS. Here's the link: 

http://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/fixer-upper-mystery-movies

Writing with--or in spite of--dogs

by Donna Andrews of the Femmes Fatales.

Every so often someone will say, “Oh, I didn't know you had dogs.” I don't. When you see the cute dog pictures on my Instagram feed, on Twitter, on Facebook—other people's dogs. Most commonly my brother's family's two dogs: Ginger, the Shih-tzu, and Maple, the Pomeranian/Bichon Frisée mix. (Shown above in their summer haircuts.)

I just spent a solid week with the dogs. My brother took the nephews for a few days of fun on the beach, and I brought the dogs down to Yorktown, to my mother's old house (now our vacation house, and we hope our vacation-rental-by-owner house when we've finished fixing it up), where my brother and the nephews joined us for the rest of their weeks' vacation. I enjoyed my time with the dogs immensely, and they are absolutely adorable, and I am just fine with continuing to be a dog aunt rather than getting a dog of my own.

There's the whole velcro dog thing. I suppose it's a pack thing: they want to be with the rest of the pack. When I'm the only one there, either for the day, because the rest of the family haven't arrived yet, or even just for the time being, because the rest of the family are out riding bikes, they want to be with me. Preferably on me. It's hard to drive with a dog in your lap. Fortunately, most of the time I managed to convince them that napping on the passenger seat was satisfactorily close. Well, except when I went through the McDonalds drive-through window for a soda.

 

And it's hard to write with a dog in your lap. I'm trying to train them to curl up in a chair next to me, and that works for long stretches of time. Or maybe two chairs, since they don't always get along.

But sometimes one or both insist that they want more than just proximity, and I declare an hour or two of recliner time.

I could always banish them to the screened porch. They like the porch. They love being able to see the scenery and the wildlife, watch what's going on in the neighborhood. Okay, what they really like to to is bark at the deer. And the squirrels. And the birds. Passing cars. Joggers. Falling leaves. The sound of the next-door neighbor bringing his trash can in from the curb. Alas, they cannot be left unsupervised for too long on the porch.

They're also adept scroungers and beggars. Could you resist this face, eagerly begging for just a taste of your hamburger?

They often sleep in my bed when we're down in Yorktown. This is not necessarily conducive to good sleep. When lifted up onto the bed--it's too tall for either to jump--Ginger immediately curls up at the foot of the bed and will stay there for the rest of the night, occasionally licking my toes if they come into range.  Maple immediately curls up in the middle of the bed and gives me her patented guilt-inducing wistful glance, hoping I will contort myself around her. Nice try, but no. I move her, and then try to find a position I want to stay in for a while, because she likes to plaster herself against me while sleeping, and I always feel guilty waking her up when I turn over. (In the following picture, you can see what she looks like before the summer haircut.)

Yes, life is more interesting with dogs. But I am by temperament better suited to dog aunthood than dog parenthood. After a week of intensely doggified existence, I think I'm ready for a little time without canine supervision. Easier to get each day's quota done.

 

A Femme Fatale with Extra Gears

 

Today, Maggie Toussaint, author of the paranormal Dreamwalker series, visits us and asks an intriguing question: Which sense would you like enhanced? Hearing? Vision? Touch? Taste? Knowing? Would you like to know the future or see the past? Welcome, Maggie! -- Elaine Viets

By Maggie Toussaint for the Femme Fatales

Dreamwalker and crime consultant Baxley Powell doesn’t look the part of a Femme Fatale. She dresses casually in work boots, jeans, and a tee. Her snow white hair is usually clenched in a ponytail and fed through the opening of her ball cap. Though she has a soft spot for animals and loves landscaping, this gal can seriously catch bad guys.

She works for the Sinclair County Law Enforcement Center in coastal Georgia. Her extrasensory abilities give her an edge like no other. In Confound It, book 5 of the Dreamwalker Mystery Series, she’s treated to her first-ever spontaneous vision of victim Mandy Patterson. Thank goodness for that new ability because touching Mandy’s personal items and connecting with her spirit doesn’t work after an arsonist torched Mandy and her place.

First thing the sheriff does is send her next door with two deputies to interview the neighbor. Turns out the man is beyond irate at Mandy’s potbellied pigs busting out and eating all his dog food. He makes threats, and thanks to Baxley’s lie-detecting ears, she knows he’s untruthful. She tries to do a touch reading on him, but he knows exactly who and what she is, and he pulls away.

Mandy’s orphaned son and sister hate each other, while Mandy’s boyfriend infuriates Baxley with his superior attitude toward women. It’s a viper’s nest of family. Poor Mandy.

That’s not all. The cops discover Mandy was a meth cook, and they get sugarplum ideas about taking down the entire drug network. Though Baxley doesn’t approve of how Mandy provided for her son, she understands Mandy made a bad choice and couldn’t leave that lifestyle. Baxley vows to find Mandy’s killer.

While Baxley investigates this case, crippling pains occur in her feet, hands, and belly. Her doctor can’t find a thing wrong with her, due to the sporadic nature of the incidents. The troubles didn’t start until she began snooping in Mandy’s life. After the normal explanations are exhausted, she wonders if someone is using voodoo against her. If so, this person has it in for her.

Mandy’s spirit visits Baxley’s dreams, parceling out past scenes from her life that have clues about her murder. As a single mother herself, Baxley is driven to get justice for Mandy and to provide solace for Mandy’s orphaned son. She’ll attack the case with every sense she has, and a few extra ones to boot. No way will she be confounded!

If you could have a heightened sense, which sense would you like enhanced? Hearing? Vision? Touch? Taste? Knowing? Would you like to know the future or see the past?

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If you’d like more information about Confound It and Maggie's Dreamwalker series, visit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CX4FWHP/

What I Learned from a Computer Crisis

By Joanna Campbell Slan for Femmes Fatales

As with most crises, this one began simply enough. My AOL inbox showed 20,000+ messages. The number had built up over time. In a surge of energy, I decided to clean out the inbox. Four hours later, I’d winnowed the mess down to 3,000+ emails. Some of you might have even gotten an email from me, because if I had any questions about whether an email had been responded to, I sent a new email to double-check.

That night, I went to bed feeling incredibly organized. Yes, I was taming my email habit at last. My friend Marla had shown me how to use the rules function. Aaron, my computer guru, told me how to block offending domains. The number in my inbox had shrunken considerably. The leftovers could be dealt with the next morning. All was well in my soul.

Alas.

The next day, I opened my computer to find…40,000+ emails. I called Aaron. He did a remote session (oh, the computer gods have ways of controlling our machines from afar!), and reset the AOL account. He deduced that AOL wanted to save all my emails for 30 days. When I tried to destroy them, AOL thoughtfully replaced all of them. We thought we had the problem fixed, although Aaron’s last pronouncement proved prescient, “I hate AOL.”

“You told me that.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll say it again. I hate AOL. You get what you pay for.”

“Right, but I still use that account. I've had it for ages. Mainly for sites that force me to sign up or for when I make purchases.”

“Yeah, but I’m just sayin’…I hate AOL.”

“Got it."

Later that day, a warning popped up in the lower right hand corner of my screen. It told me that I was running out of disk space. I hit the Crap Cleaner button. I did the Malware cleaning. Usually that’s all I need to do. Of course, cleaning the disk space is a hassle because as you do, you clean out all the “cookies,” which are really bread crumbs that lead you back to places you’ve been. When the cookies are gone, you have to manually re-enter passwords. A pain in the backside. However, I was being a good little scout. I did it. And I kept writing on my newest Kiki book and a short story.

The next day…Armageddon. AOL decided I could NOT do without the emails I’d deleted and repopulated them AGAIN. I now had 220,000+ emails in my inbox. I also had 50,000+ emails in my trash folder. I couldn’t send or receive any emails. A big yellow caution sign covered my enterprise server, the joannaslan.com site.

So I decided to take out the trash (in the computer). I needed to hurry because I was catching a plane up to DC. From there I was flying to Seattle, Washington, for a family wedding. I hit the right buttons. Hit them again. Nothing happened.

In a panic I called Aaron.

As it happened, between the emails in my inbox and the emails in my trash, I’d used up ALL the available space on my computer. In fact, between the manuscripts on my laptop, the photos, the covers, and everything else, I’d used up 60% of my disk space. My emails ate the rest, the remaining 30%.

Fortunately, there was a fix. I could physically drop off my computer with Aaron, and he could install a bigger hard drive. A much, much bigger hard drive. So I did.

Now my computer is slicker than owl snot. (As if I’d know how slick owl snot is!) And faster than a speeding bullet. (Ditto.) Aaron kindly worked overtime to get the machine back to me. Between his efforts and the wedding and traveling, I took a semi-forced vacation from my laptop. Yesterday I actually floated around in my son’s pool for an hour. It was heaven, watching the clouds float overhead in a blue, blue sky. Here in Winter Park, Florida, the temperature soared into the 90s, and the water was perfect! I actually fell asleep while drifting in the plastic doughnut.

And you know what? Despite the hassle, and the cost, and the exasperation…I’m kinda/sorta glad this happened. I now have more storage space. I feel refreshed. I really needed to take a break from technology. My mind feels much clearer, and I'm ready to get back to work.

What did I learn from all this?

• I'm recommitted to cleaning my email inbox more frequently--and immediately dumping the "trash."
• I'm going to be more pro-active about using external back-up drives. I'll keep one up in DC at our business and one in Florida.
• I'll be putting more of my finished manuscripts in the cloud from now on as a way to keep things organized and to better manage storage.
• I'll always get the largest hard drive I can afford. When we bought this new laptop, it never occurred to us to see if we could get a bigger hard drive. This one is four times the size I had.
• I'm so glad I keep a little notebook with all my passwords written down. Another computer guru, not Aaron, told me that he spends a lot of his time working with people who put all their passwords on their computer only to have a computer problem and lose all access.
• I need to take a break from my computer once in a while. It's positively addicting. I need to clear my thinking and detach.
• I really appreciate Aaron. He's a girl's best friend when it comes to my computer. Everyone needs a computer whiz as a pal.

Oh... and Aaron still hates AOL.

Three Bags Full

The Femmes welcome author Dennis Palumbo, a licensed psychotherapist and Hollywood screenwriter (My Favorite Year, Welcome Back, Kotter, and more.). Dennis's his fifth thriller, Head Wounds, features Daniel Rinaldi, a psychologist and trauma expert who consults with the Pittsburgh police. www.dennispalumbo.com. Enjoy his story. -- Elaine Viets

 

 

 How my latest Daniel Rinaldi thriller let me check three items off my writing bucket list

By Dennis Palumbo

 

In the years since I began my series of mystery thrillers featuring Daniel Rinaldi, a psychologist and trauma expert who consults with the Pittsburgh Police, I’ve wanted to do three particular things with the series. And yet it wasn’t until I wrote the latest, HEAD WOUNDS, that I got my chance.

First, I was able to write about the delusional condition called erotomania (also known as De Clerambault’s Syndrome). As both a therapist and a mystery author, I’ve always been fascinated by it.

imply put, erotomania is a disorder in which someone falsely believes that another person is in love with him---deeply, unconditionally, and usually secretly. The latter because this imaginary relationship must be hidden due to some social, personal or professional circumstances. Perhaps the object of this romantic obsession is married, or a superior at work. Often it’s a famous athlete or media celebrity.

Not that these seeming roadblocks diminish the delusion. Instead, they can even provide a titillating excitement. Often, a person in the grip of erotomania believes his or her secret admirer is sending covert signals of their mutual love: for example, wearing certain colors whenever a situation puts them together in public; or doing certain gestures whose “special” meaning is known only to the two of them. Some even believe they’re receiving telepathic messages from their imagined beloved.

What makes the delusion even more insidious is that the object of this romantic obsession, once he or she learns of it, is helpless to do anything about it. They can strenuously and repeatedly rebuff the delusional lover, denying that there’s anything going on between them, but nothing dissuades the other’s ardent devotion.

I know of one case wherein the recipient of these unwanted declarations of love was finally forced to call the police and obtain a restraining order. Even then, her obsessed lover said he understood that this action was a test of his love. A challenge from her to prove the constancy and sincerity of his feelings.

In terms of treatment, the clinical options for the condition are limited to a combination of therapy and medication, usually anti-psychotics like pimozide. If the symptoms appear to stem from an underlying cause, such as bipolar disorder, the therapeutic approach would also involve medication, typically lithium.

What makes erotomania so intriguing as a psychological condition, and so compelling in an antagonist in a thriller, is the delusional person’s ironclad conviction---the unshakeable certainty of his or her belief.

Which brings me to the second box I got to tick off on my thriller-writing checklist: while the previous Daniel Rinaldi novels emphasized narrative twists and psychological suspense, there was always a whodunnit aspect to the story. The reader doesn’t learn the identity of the bad guy until the end.

However, with HEAD WOUNDS, I had the perfect opportunity to reveal to the reader right up front who the villain is: Sebastian Maddox, a computer genius who, in the grip of erotomania many years before, had killed Daniel Rinaldi’s wife Barbara, disguising the murder as a mugging gone wrong. Having formed a psychotic obsession with Barbara before she’d even met her future husband, Maddox is outraged when he learns that she and Rinaldi had gotten married. To his mind, the marriage was an unacceptable betrayal of the love that he believed he and Barbara shared.

So, instead of a whodunnit, HEAD WOUNDS turns on a deadly cat-and-mouse game---all these years after Barbara’s death--- between Sebastian Maddox, who’s spent ten years in prison on an unrelated drug charge, and Daniel Rinaldi. After a decade’s careful planning, stewing in his jail cell, Maddox can now complete his mission of revenge.

Since I’d never written a mystery in which both the bad guy and his motive were clear from early on, writing this latest book caused more than a few narrative headaches along the way. But it sure was fun.

Which brings me to the third element of the Rinaldi series that has plagued me since the beginning: namely, what had actually happened to the psychologist’s wife that fateful night? Seasoned crime readers certainly know (or at least suspect) that a simple mugging is never either simple nor, in fact, a mugging. So why did Barbara Rinaldi die? And, more importantly, who wanted her dead?

Throughout the release of the previous novels, I’ve heard from many readers wanting to know what really happened to Rinaldi’s wife. Now, at last, I got to answer them. As well as provide myself with a satisfying resolution to an important aspect of Rinaldi’s back-story.

What can I say? I’m a therapist. I like closure.

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Buy Head Wounds here: https://www.amazon.com/Wounds-Daniel-Rinaldi-Dennis-Palumbo/dp/1464208182/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1533764042&sr=8-1&keywords=head+wounds%2C+dennis+palumbo

 

 

 

The Things That Move Us

We have all had experiences that have touched us deeply, moved us, sometimes in almost indefinable ways. Books, movies, places, people, experiences -- they all have the power to move us. I have been thinking about this recently, looking back on books, movies, and places that have sometimes brought me to tears.

When I was ten years old and in the fifth grade, I read E.B. White's Charlotte's Web. I grew up on a farm, but we had no pigs like Wilbur, nor spiders like Charlotte, yet the setting was familiar to me. The book enthralled me, but I was in no way prepared for the ending, for the love that Charlotte showed Wilbur and the sacrifice she made. I finished the book, lying on my bed, just before supper. My mother came to tell me it was time to eat, and she found me sobbing on my bed. Naturally she was alarmed but soon comforted me. For the first time, though I was already an avid reader, I discovered that books, stories, could break your heart.

Years later, in graduate school, a friend and I went to see the film "Sophie's Choice." I hadn't read the book, and I knew nothing about the story. Had I known the story, I might have reconsidered seeing the movie. I can't remember whether my friend had read the book either, but I do know that we both walked out of the theater after the film ended emotionally drained and tear-stained. That horrible moment when you finally understand the meaning of the title is utterly devastating. Thirty-plus years later, I still remember that scene and its impact. I had read books about the Holocaust and studied it in school, had been deeply affected by what I read, but this personal story brought it home at a visceral level.

In my youth I found other books deeply affecting, like Anne of Green Gables and Little Women. Later on, The Robe and Gone with the Wind, to name but a few. I have also had similar experiences with places. I fell in love with England and its history as a teenager, reading books like Anya Seton's Green Darkness and Katherine and Roberta Gellis's Bond of Blood. I wasn't able to travel to England until I was thirty. Stepping off that plane at Gatwick and seeing the countryside from the train to Victoria, I thought I was dreaming. With every place we visited, I fell more deeply in love. The beauty of York Minster stunned me, and standing on the spot beneath the Minster where Constantine was said to have declared himself emperor was an almost surreal moment. The same with visiting Canterbury Cathedral, where four of Henry II's knights murdered Thomas Becket.

Four years ago I achieved one of the items on my bucket list. I traveled to Turkey and Greece with two friends, and I was at last able to step over the threshold of Justinian's magnificent Church of Holy Wisdom, or Hagia Sophia, in Istanbul. Despite the crowds of tourists around me, I felt moved to tears standing in this ancient place. I felt the same again standing before the omphalion, where Byzantine emperors were crowned.

Back in 2012 I visited London and Paris for a few days with friends. This was my second visit to Paris, and among my most treasured moments are the visit to the Orangerie Museum to see Monet's "Waterlilies." I could have sat for hours and stared at these serene images. Later we went to the Musée d'Orsay and viewed its stunning collections. (The building itself, formerly a train station, is pretty stunning, too.) My favorite section, of course, was the gallery of Impressionist paintings. The opportunity finally to see the actual paintings I'd seen in books and images was almost overwhelming.

Now that I've shared some of my favorite moving experiences with you, what are some of yours?