My Weblog

No Future Without a Past

by guest blogger, EJ Randolph

posted by Kris Neri of the Femmes Fatales

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today the Femmes welcome guest blogger science fiction writer, EJ Randolph. Read on to learn how you can get a free copy of her latest book, Spiders & Spice.

Take it away, EJ.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Writers are advised to write what they know. In my case, my educational background is in history with a heavy emphasis upon diplomatic and military affairs.

What should I do with this?

I could write popular history. Still could, I suppose. Or, I could write historical novels. I used to read these as a child, but now that I've learned history, I can’t stand the inaccuracies. And I don’t think an accurate tale would be that interesting in today’s market.

We tend to write about burning issues of the day. For instance, today’s romance writers take seriously the notion that they are modeling ideal relationships both in and out of the bedroom, how mutual respect and consideration must be in every relationship along with a basic equality. A historically accurate romance would offend modern readers. As a result, historical novels tend to be costume dramas.

I write science fiction. What? You ask. You study the past and write about the future?

History is about universals of humans. We are not going to get rid of anger, ambition, love, hatred, backbiting, mother’s love. Some things are incontrovertible aspects of our very nature.

Many facets of societies repeat themselves. No one will argue against the universality of war. But often the need for cooperation brings people together no matter their differences. Nations will compete for resources, some as basic as water and food.

Enter my diplomat, the protagonist of my Federation Diplomat series, Kate Stevens. She is adept at maneuvering between peoples to bring about cooperation and peace. But she must understand the origin of points of friction between peoples and know what these mean in terms of her options.

I like to create future societies that highlight problems we can find in our world both in the past and in the present. Readers will recognize these and feel they are on familiar terrain. In my most recent book, Spiders & Spice, I look at a society defined by the elevation of the group over the individual. Many societies on Earth do that, especially in the East. Think China.

Another reason to study history in order to write about the future is the need to know how conflicts start and proceed.

Try not to cross your eyes for the following.

Insurgencies throughout time and across cultures follow a distinct pattern. They start out with a political complaint. People mobilize into a movement. We want change, they say. They plead their cause with the governing structure. They tend to expect the government will go along. They are not asking for all that much, and the justice is clear.

But the government cracks down. Always.

The resistance radicalizes.

The government cracks down harder, usually in a general way against whole populations, turning more people against it.

The resistance picks up weapons.

Now, we have a hot war going on. The goals have become expansive.

Think about the recent protests about police brutality in our own country. People complain. We get a Black Lives Matter movement. The government doesn’t listen and probably acts against this movement. I haven’t been getting the news for a while, so I can’t speak to details.

Now, the movement radicalizes. Look at the violent protests in Oregon.

The government cracks down. (Sending federal troops. Even though they have been ostensibly removed, I’m sure the FBI and other agencies are active.)

Cities are talking about defunding police. Yep, the movement has radicalized.

So far, the US has avoided the path of most countries because it tends to eventually listen to protests. But will they this time? Obviously in some places, Black Lives Matter advocates are in position to make these changes. They are the city councils in places. So, I am hopeful. We can vote to make change. That’s not always possible in other places.

Now, you see how a knowledge of history can make a diplomat’s task much easier. She can assess where a society has come on the insurgent continuum. She knows where and how to act to stop the trajectory and bring about peace.

Most books about war talk simply about using bigger guns and more troops. Maybe a kill-first-ask-questions later mentality.

I roll my eyes. The US tried that in Vietnam. We all know how that turned out.

If you want a far more realistic view of diplomacy and war in fiction, you'll find it in my books.   

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Spiders & Spice, protagonist Kate Stevens speeds across the galaxy to forge a defense alliance with an alien culture before a rogue military can crush the peaceful alien planet. Yet it proves impossible, since the aliens forbid a discussion of violence. Can Kate prevent the war? Without the Navy to support her, she must rely upon subterfuge and guts. It’s risky but that’s her only chance against the marauder’s far superior numbers. She must gamble with her own life and the lives of her spaceship crew. If she fails, she’ll end in an unmarked grave. If she succeeds, she must craft the peace under the continued threat of war. Will she survive?

If you like characters with heart and grit, you'll love this space opera in which a diplomat risks life and career to bring about peace in a deadly clash of worlds.

E J Randolph lives in the mountains of Southwest New Mexico and dreams of flying someday to the stars. She imagines future human societies in space and contact with aliens. Her background in military and diplomatic history gives her a firm foundation for the actions and thoughts of her main character, a diplomat of the Federation of Human-Settled Planets. Readers may contact her at randolphweb.wordpress.com.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Until October 14, 2020 review copies of Spiders & Spice are available free! Free copies!

The paperback is currently available on Amazon. 

The ebook is on preorder until October 14, 2020. 

 

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen

but who can spell the next word? So let's leave it there.

I've been blogging with Femmes Fatales for . . . checks notes. No really I just had to go and look up the file details of a photograph I used in one of my three first blogs, to find out the date I started. People, it was 2012. I've been blogging with Femmes Fatales for eight years.

This was the picture, of a bit of Neil and all of Dennis, in the kitchen of the people we were baby-sitting for.

Since then, I've blogged on favourite Oscar frocks (still Gemma Chan from 2019 - it had pockets!), gardening triumphs and disasters:

This is far too many courgettes (zucchinis) which is triumph and disaster combined.

I've blogged on days such as after the Boston marathon bombing when there were no words, and on days when books came out and babies were born and Thanksgiving and Hanukkah coincided, when there weren't enough words to do justice to the joy of it all. 

I've talked far too much about the ever-surprising differences between Scotland and America, and everyone has been very patient. Why, only yesterday did I find out that the name TRISTAN is pronounced "trisTAHHN" here, rather than "TRIST'n" like I say it. 

I was thinking earlier today about who else blogged here when I started and I realised that it was Elaine Viets, Charlaine Harris, Toni Kelner, Marcia Talley, Donna Andrews, Dean James, Kris Neri, Mary Saums, Dana Cameron and Hank Phillippi Ryan, all but one of whom have moved on by now. So, rather than feeling like a quitter, I'm suddenly realising that I might have hung around like a bad smell on the landing, with people dropping hints like anvils and me missing them. 

Not seriously. The serious reason that I'm jumping ship right now rather than at the end of the year, is that 2020 isn't a normal year.

I don't mean the pandemic, although of course there's the pandemic. I don't even mean the wildfires engulfing the west coast. (But can I offer another apology to the several friends who go in touch to say "Are you okay?". I answered a few of them by saying "Oh yes, we're fine. The fire's about five miles away and the evacuation line is three miles off." To which they'd answer. "WHAT? OMG. WHAT? FOR GOD"S SAKE, CATRIONA." And I'd remind myself of how it feels when someone in the mid-west says things like "We lost the barn but the tornado went right past the house. No need for concern.")

No, what I'm talking about is that in the next 42 days, and - let's face it - the months following, we're going to be in the fight of our lives: for democracy, equality, justice, decency, and safety. On a practical level, when I'm not writing books I'm going to be writing letters. I do sometimes wonder if I'm committing foreign interference, but everything I sign up for says "citizen or permanent legal resident" on the declaration. Maybe I shouldn't even have typed "foreign interference" while concluding I'm not doing it. I'm reminded of when I was on the SinC board and the lawyers in the room begged me to stop calling what we did with the Authors' Coalition funds "laundering". 

That's the practical side. There's also this: I can't keep sitting down and choosing to write about cats and courgettes while the fabric of this extraordinary republic comes under threat. 

On the other hand, I can't unilaterally turn Femmes Fatales into a political blog.

Also, and finally, Ruth Bader Ginsburg dying was a sharp reminder of what one person can do if she decides to (and if I ever manage a quarter of one percent of what RBG did in her laziest year, I'll have surpassed my entire life so far). It was also a sharp reminder that our time here, even if we live a long glorious life like she did, is finite.

So. It's been lovely being a femme fatale, but it's time to turn the page.

Onward!

Cx

Happy publication day!

by Laura Jensen Walker, guest blogger at the Femmes Fatales.

Catriona writes: This is a funny old business and most certainly an unfunny old year, but there are still shining moments. Such as - when a brand-new cozy author brings out the first book in her series and it's everything we need right now: funny, warm, twisted and absolutely rooted in a real life. Femmes and friends, I give you . . . Laura Jensen Walker.

C: This is your debut cozy but far from your debut book. Tell us a bit about your publishing history.

L: I’m a former journalist—reporter at The Sacramento Bee—so the first books I wrote were non-fiction (humorous.) Getting diagnosed with breast cancer the day after my first wedding anniversary made me finally pursue my lifelong dream of becoming an author. My first book, Dated Jekyll, Married Hyde, (title courtesy of my husband, Michael) was published in 1997. In 2000, the non-fiction book of my heart, Thanks for the Mammogram! (Fighting Cancer with Faith, Hope, & a Healthy Dose of Laughter) was released. It’s now being re-released with a fabulous new cover in a revised, updated version on 9/15/20. I’ve written a total of ten non-fiction humor books, including a Christmas book with Michael entitled God Rest Ye Grumpy Scroogeymen. (We’ve agreed for the sake of our marriage never to write a book together again.)

The childhood dream of my heart, however, was always to write fiction so I was thrilled to bits in 2005, when my first novel, Dreaming in Black and White, was released. After that, I wrote six more chick-lit novels. After writing 17 books in 12 years and starting a full-time job just before my last novel released, though, I found myself exhausted and burned out, feeling like I never wanted to write another book again. Happily, that changed, and I’m delighted and grateful that my first mystery novel is now being released. Fingers crossed I’ll be writing cozies for years to come. I also have a memoir, the book of my soul, I wrote a few years ago, which I hope will eventually be published.

C: How does mystery writing compare?

L: It’s the most fun I’ve ever had writing! I absolutely love it. Cozy mysteries are a genre tailor-made for me—writing light humor comes naturally to me, plus I’m a complete homebody. My favorite pastime is curling up with a good book and a cup of tea, with my sweet dog on the couch next to me, snuggled in our cozy cottage and looking out at the garden full of roses and dreaming I’m back in England again. (I’m a rabid Anglophile, having been stationed in Oxfordshire years ago in the Air Force, where I first fell in love with BBC mysteries.) Since discovering Trixie Belden as a child, I’ve always loved and devoured mysteries, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d be writing them!

Confession: I’m a total pantser. I don’t outline or plot (apart from a brief synopsis) and mysteries are all about plot. Intricate, well-thought-out, deeply planned and organized plots. Right? Thus, it never occurred to me that I could write a mystery. Not the person who writes character-driven fiction that unfolds organically. Each day when I sit down at my laptop and start to write, what comes out of my fingertips onto the screen is a fun surprise. Sometimes, I’ll tell Michael, “Guess what [insert main character’s name] did today?”

It wasn’t until a longtime editor friend of mine suggested I try my hand at cozy mysteries, that it ever occurred to me I might be able to write one. I’d always loved Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldy Bear culinary mysteries and Laura Childs’ tea shop mysteries, and of course, M.C. Beaton, but I didn’t know what else was out there, so I promptly went to my local Barnes and Noble. There I was gobsmacked (told you I was an Anglophile) to see the amount of cozy mysteries on the shelves! Wow. So many books. So many new-to-me authors. I bought a few and promptly went home and read them. I was delighted to discover they were fun and character-driven. Yes, plot is important, but cozies are all about the characters. And I thought, “maybe I can do this after all.” And then I did. So. Much. Fun.

C:  think cozy covers are a joy. How did you find your first experience of going through that process with Crooked Lane?

It was great! First, they sent me an initial black-and-white sketch to review. I loved it (except that the dog looked more like a Husky than an American Eskimo) so I sent them Eskie photos, and told them the dog needed to be much smaller. The new version they sent was perfect. I LOVE the fun and colorful cover they came up with. (I think the dog is adorable—the spitting image of my first dog, our sweet Gracie, who crossed the rainbow bridge years ago.)   

C: Teddie (in the Bookish Baker series) has a fantastic sense of style. And so do you. How would you describe yours and hers? Are they the same?

L:Thanks, Catriona! That means a lot, coming from you. I’ve always loved the way you dress with your pretty skirts and floral dresses over leggings. Teddie is boho-chic and loves wearing colorful and swirling bohemian maxi skirts and dresses from funky boutiques, ethnic shops, and vintage thrift stores. She dislikes expensive designer clothes--in complete contrast to her mother. Teddie, who, like me, is a breast cancer survivor, has a huge collection of colorful and whimsical scarves she pairs with her boho outfits, as do I, to cover our mutual breastless states so we don’t have to wear bras (which we both hate.) My style is similar to Teddie’s, but not entirely. Teddie rarely wears jeans and I (used to) live in jeans and T-shirts on the weekend--pre-pandemic. These days since I rarely leave the house, my wardrobe mainly consists of three different colorful caftans.

C: But what a house (and garden) to rarely leave When I went for tea, I took some flowers made up in a posy, much in the way that I might take a cooler full of snow if I visit Alaska!

But returning to books, Dru Ann Love said recently that even a long series should be conceived trilogy by trilogy. How far ahead have you planned Teddie's arc? 

L: Ha! Planned? That word is anathema to this total pantser. Actually, I’m now finishing up edits on the second book in Teddie’s Bookish Baker series—Deadly Delights—which will release in June 2021. I’m not contracted for any more books in the series (yet) but I do have brief synopses for the next two books after Deadly Delights that I recently sent to my publisher. (Generally, from what I understand, my publisher contracts for two books at a time in a series.) Fingers crossed.

C: I sometimes think that jaded old hacks/very experienced writers are less helpful to budding writers than newbies can be. What one thing would you most like to pass on to the new mystery writers juuuust behind you on the journey?

L: Don’t give up. Everyone has an opinion, and different tastes. Not everyone is going to love your work. Don’t let one person’s opinion stop you from writing. I took Murder Most Sweet to an important writing conference and nervously submitted it to three publishing professionals for critique. Although I’d written 17 books, Murder Most Sweet was my first cozy and my return to writing after a decade’s absence. I was nervous and uncertain if I could truly write a mystery. I’d never done so before—this was a whole new genre for me—so I approached that first critique with a NY Times best-selling author with fear and trembling. That author told me my manuscript wasn’t ready for publication and needed work. Then this best-selling author told me all the things that were wrong with my manuscript. (She/He mentioned a few things She/He liked, but overall, said it needed work.)

I was crushed. My agent was already shopping it around! Should I call him immediately and tell him to stop? I was devastated and wanted to slink off somewhere and bawl my eyes out. Then came my second critique—this one with a longtime editor from a major NY publisher, who said I was a really good writer and my manuscript had all the necessary cozy elements. In fact, I’d made his mouth water with my descriptions of delectable Danish pastries. This time, the tears came. Especially when he said that although he didn’t edit cozies, he would take my manuscript back to his cozy editor colleague. In. New. York. When I mentioned the first critiquer’s negative reaction, he dismissed it, saying, “She/He doesn’t do frothy.” The final critique came from a freelance editor who said, “I LOVE it!” Less than two months later, my agent sold this cozy that “needs work” in a three-book deal. Everyone has an opinion.

C: Finally, how far are you right now from the nearest kringle? How do you cope?

L: About a mile and a half. We have a Trader Joe’s nearby, but Trader’s doesn’t regularly carry kringles. When they initially started carrying them a few years ago, they only stocked kringles at the holidays, but they’ve proven so popular, they now have them more often. If I get desperate for this beloved Danish-pastry treat from childhood, however, I’ll order one from O&H Bakery in Racine, 2,000 miles away (either raspberry or cherry-cheese, my favorites) and enjoy it warmed for breakfast two days later with a cup of PG Tips tea. Heaven.

C: Speaking of heaven . . . I was lucky enough to find the ARC of Laura's second book in my mailbox just yesterday. Hope, Faith, and a Corpse - the series debut of the Faith Chapel mysteries - comes out early next year.

And the first laugh-out-loud line is on page one! You could ask Laura about that in the comments. Or you could ask about it (and about that "book of the soul" . . .) tonight at 5.30pm (pacific) during the virtual launch party, via crowdcast, at Capitol Books on K. Click here to join the fun.  

Laura Jensen Walker has loved mysteries ever since she read Trixie Belden in the fourth grade in her Danish-founded hometown of Racine, Wisconsin—America’s kringle capital. A former journalist and the author of several fun and frothy chick-lit novels and humorous non-fiction books, including Thanks for the Mammogram! Laura lives in Northern California with her Renaissance-man husband and their canine daughter, Mellie. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.