My Weblog

#BlackoutTuesday

 I haven’t the energy to be witty or profound or charming or even outraged today. So, I’m just going to list some Black authors, bloggers, and bookstagrammers you should read/follow. I’ve also included some resources (databases) where you can find more Black authors (and other diverse books). To quote Robert Justice, the host of the Crime Writers of Color podcast, “Diversify your bookshelves.”

Kellye Garrett
Tracy Clark
Cheryl Head
S.A. Cosby
V.M. Burns
Delia Pitts
Abby L. Vandiver/Abby Collette
Patricia Sargeant
Esme Addison
John Vercher
Rachel Howzell Hall
Attica Locke
Chester Himes
Rudolph Fisher
Walter Mosley
Nikki Dolson
Cate Holahan
G.G. Wynter
Tamika Christy
Kwei Quartey
Oyinkan Braithwaite
Leye Adenle
Angela Makholwa

On Instagram
@Krissythewhimsy
@SicilyJoy
@WOCReads
@ReaderMonica
@Browngirlreading
@Blackgirlreading
@Book_girl_magic
@blackgirlthatreads

Databases
We Need Diverse Books (https://diversebooks.org/resources/where-to-find-diverse-books/)
Crime Writers of Color (https://www.crimewritersofcolor.com/books)
I Found This Great Book: Black Mystery Authors Directory (https://www.ifoundthisgreatbook.com/black-mystery-authors-directory/)
Sisters in Crime: Frankie’s List (https://www.sistersincrime.org/page/FrankiesList)

Blog:
Dru’s Book Musings (https://drusbookmusing.com/)

Why not buy a book by a Black author from a Black-owned bookstore? Here’s a list:
https://afrotech.com/10-black-owned-online-bookstores-to-support-while-at-home

Finally, an organization that’s more true crime than crime fiction: The Black and Missing Foundation. Black people who go missing often don’t get the media attention they deserve, attention that might help find them. This organization aims to change that by spotlighting Black missing persons. Follow them on Instagram: @blackandmissingfdn

Please share other Black authors, bloggers, bookstagrammers, databases, and bookstores in the comments.

#blackouttuesday #amplifymelanatedvoices

Something Old, Something New

Things right now are, well, not normal. We’re in the midst of the first pandemic since the H1N1 Pandemic of 2009—and the first pandemic of the Social Media Era. (Facebook launched in 2004 and Twitter in 2006.) While social media has been valuable for getting important information about COVID-19 to the public, it has also amplified the speed at which misinformation and speculation spread in ways unimaginable even in 2009. As a result, people are afraid—afraid of getting sick, afraid of dying, afraid of losing friends and loved ones, afraid of losing their homes as livelihoods, and afraid of losing their way of life.

Although the feeling of fear is universal, the way people cope with fear is not. Some people lash out, others withdraw. Some seek out new ways to deal with a new reality (Virtual church services, anyone?) while others turn to familiarities from the past to help them navigate unfamiliar ground. Still others combine the old comforts with new methods. For example, the age-old practice of reading aloud was paired with the new technology of live-streaming audio and video to recreate the childhood joy of being read to. Probably the most viral (no pun intended) instance of this is Levar Burton taking Neil Gaiman up on his offer of the use of his stories to produce Twitter livestreams of Levar Burton Reads. (Friday at 6 pm Pacific/9 pm Eastern for adults.)

Me, I’m turning to old favorites to help me cope with a world I can’t control. (Although, come to think of it, I’m using new technology to do so, so I guess I’m in the hybrid coping camp.) I’m re-binge-watching Agatha Christie’s Marple and Agatha Christie’s Poirot on Hulu and BritBox. I know how each episode ends but the known outcome is what makes them comforting.

How about you? How are you coping? By reading? By being read to? Watching film adaptations of books? Writing your own works, pieces that deal with—or resist—the times? Comment on the blog or join the discussion on Facebook or Twitter.

Words to My Ears

Happy New Year! February’s not too late to say that, right? How are the New Year’s resolutions going? Are you still sticking with yours? Yeah, me neither.

One thing I am sticking with in 2020 is podcasting. In July 2019, I started a podcast, The Cozy Corner with Alexia Gordon. I use an interview format where I chat with a different author each episode. We talk about their latest book, the inspirations behind it, and fun facts related to the story. The hook that sets my podcast apart from others is my focus on authors who write on the lighter side of crime. My guests write cozy or traditional or cozy-ish mysteries that leave the graphic sex and violence “off-screen.”
Although I didn’t jump into podcasting myself until mid-last year, I’ve been listening to podcasts for a while. If you’re not familiar with the form, podcasts are digital audio files, usually episodic series, available on the internet. Episodes have no set length—some are as short as ten minutes, some last a couple of hours. Topics are as limitless as creators’ imaginations. You can find a podcast on darn near anything. According to Music Oomph, in 2020 there are more than 700,000 active podcasts and 2.9 million podcast episodes. Two. Point. Nine. Million. Like I said, darn near anything. My podcast favorites list includes other bookish podcasts, like Shedunnit, Authors on the Air, and Mystery Rat’s Maze; long form/docuseries podcasts, like Drilled, The Drop Out, and S-Town; and, my favorite, true crime podcasts, like True Crime Obsessed, The Vanished, Swindled, Red Handed, The Trail Went Cold… Yes, I am a true crime fan. My favorite among favorites is Small Town Murder. Every week, the hosts present a deep dive into a murder that occurred in, you guessed it, a small town. Just like cozy mysteries. Warning: the small town setting is all Small Town Murder shares with cozy mysteries. It’s definitely NSFW.)

If you’ve never listened to a podcast, give it a try. You need internet access and software that allows you to listen to digital audio files (e.g., .wav, .mp4, .mp3). Listening’s easier if you use a podcast listening platform—apps such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Majelan, Stitcher, SoundCloud, and Anchor FM. Using a podcast listening app makes browsing easier. If you don’t have a particular podcast in mind, you can search by topic or most popular or any other parameter. You can also listen to podcasts on the web. Many of the podcast listening platforms have URLs (e.g., anchor.fm, podcasts.apple.com, soundcloud.com). You can access the audio files from their websites. Individual podcasts often have associated websites, too, but you have to know which podcast you’re looking for.

Try something new in 2020—listen to a podcast. You can find mine, The Cozy Corner with Alexia Gordon, at anchor.fm/alexia-gordon.

Write Around the Holidays

by Alexia Gordon

Thanksgiving 2019 is in the books and the holiday season has officially started. (I know some of you started way back in October but, to me, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade marks the season’s beginning.) From now until New Year’s, we’ll be inundated with holiday-themed everything. Fashion, home dec, music, movies, books, you name it. If it can be remotely connected to Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or New Year’s, we’ll be able to buy, rent, watch, wear, listen to, or read it.

Before you accuse me of pathological grinchiness, I’m not knocking the holiday theme. I’ve got a few Christmas playlists queued on Spotify. I’m not going within ten feet of an ugly Christmas sweater but I do own a few pieces of Christmas-themed jewelry. I also own (and use) Lenox Christmas china. (Don’t judge.) I’ve added a few holiday films to my streaming watchlists and I’ve dragged the holiday movie DVDs out of the cabinet. I’m also looking for some Christmas-themed reads.

If I asked most people (perhaps, not you, as you’re reading a crime fiction blog) to recommend a Christmas-themed read, they’d probably recommend a story filled with heart-warming and peppermint-scented sweetness. But I’m in search of something less sentimental. After all, Christmas occurs during the darkest, coldest time of the year. Why shouldn’t seasonal fiction skew dark and cold? Why shouldn’t our holiday reads explore our fears as well as our hopes? One way of taming our fears is to confront them in a safe format. Books are safe. Thought-provoking, challenging, mind-expanding, maddening, yes, but safe, compared to the complicated, complex reality we navigate every day. If what we’re reading gets to be too much, we can turn the page or shut the book or set it aside until we’re ready to deal with the world depicted within.

But, you say, escapism tops your holiday wish-list. All you want for Christmas are candy canes, hot cocoa, and warm hugs. There’s nothing wrong with escapism. We turn to it to restore the feelings of safety, security, and certainty that real life too often denies us. Bring on the sentiment. (Sentiment sells, is the mantra of several streaming services eager to oblige your emotional sweet tooth with over 100 holiday rom-coms for your escapist enjoyment.) You want your holiday reads to be the warm blanket you hide under to escape the dark and cold.

Give darkness a chance. Escapism and fear are not mutually exclusive. What better way to calm your anxiety than through the vicarious pleasure of experiencing your fears being conquered on the page? Maybe you can’t slay the boogeyman rampaging through your actual life. You can imagine yourself as the protagonist who beats the bad guys in 250 pages or less. Maybe justice is harder to find in real life than Santa’s workshop. You can escape into a book where good wins and nice guys finish first.

Christmas mysteries and Christmas ghost stories are two types of fiction that fit the non-sentimental seasonal niche. Once upon a time, Christmas (or Yule to the pagans who thought of it first)—the darkest time of the year—was believed to be a time when the worlds of the living and the dead came closest, even closer than at Halloween. Ghost stories were standard fare. (Smithsonian Magazine has a good article explaining the history of the Christmas ghost story. It contains links to other articles on the tradition, as well as the names of some authors who penned spooky Christmas tales. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-do-ghost-stories-go-christmas-180961547/) It wasn’t until the puritanical Cromwell killed everyone’s buzz that these stories, along with the holiday itself, fell out of fashion. Charles Dickens revived the tradition. (“A Christmas Carol.” Ghosts. Think about it.) Others, such as M.R. James, often heralded as the master of the modern ghost story, carried it on.

Authors of crime fiction may not have consciously carried on the ancient tradition of honoring the time when the realms of the living and dead came closest, but they certainly appreciated the tension created by juxtaposing murder against all that cheer and goodwill. With happy, happy, joy, joy as a backdrop, the crime of taking a life seems all the more heinous. Thus, it feels all the more satisfying when the sleuth unmasks the killer, ensuring justice for the wronged. A Google search for “Christmas Mysteries” returned 59,500,000 results in 0.80 seconds. Agatha Christie is one of the best known. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas wasn’t very merry but it was fun to read/watch. Martha Grimes gave us Jerusalem Inn. Thanks to Martin Edwards and the British Library, we’ve rediscovered believed-lost classics like, J. Jefferson Farjeon’s Mystery in White. Both Crime Reads (https://crimereads.com/christmas-mysteries-a-tradition-revived/) and Book Bub (https://www.bookbub.com/blog/christmas-mystery-books) offer further suggestions for your Yuletide reading, as do The Strand magazine (https://strandmag.com/top-ten-holiday-mysteries/), Dead Good Books (https://www.deadgoodbooks.co.uk/classic-christmas-crime/), and about 59 million others.

I’ve focused on Christmas because that’s the holiday I celebrate. Suggest some favorite, non-sentimental reads focused on Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s. Thanksgiving, Advent, and Epiphany, too. (Hint: Death in D Minor, my second Gethsemane Brown novel, is set during the run-up to Epiphany.) Or name drop some of your favorite reads that flirt with the dark side of Christmas.

 

Once Upon a NaNoWriMo

November is National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo for short. I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo since 2010 and I’m doing it again this year. Why? A couple of reasons. One, NaNoWriMo is a non-profit organization that supports writing and education and encourages people to tell their stories. I support organizations that support storytelling. Two, by participating I become part of a fun, inspirational, supportive community of fellow Wrimos who understand what I’m going through because they’re going through the same thing. It’s like being invited to the cool kids’ potluck without the sucky parts of feeling like an imposter or worrying no one will eat the dish I brought. Three (okay, that’s a few reasons, not a couple), NaNoWriMo sets a specific goal with a specific deadline—50,000 words by November 30. NaNoWriMo offers resources to help you reach the goal—pep talks, coaches, Twitter word sprints, local groups, write-ins, and more—but you have to put in the work to meet the challenge. I enjoy a challenge.

The downside of NaNoWriMo? I have to confront the fact that I’m a procrastinator. I’ve participated every year since 2010. I have not won most years. My inner demon (inner editor, in NaNoWriMo terms) comes up with a seemingly endless number of ways to distract me and keeping me from hitting 50K. When it comes to my inner editor, the best laid plans of mice and men are shot straight to hell. No amount of planning, scheduling, promising, motivating, or negotiating with myself can prevent my brain from coming up with a sneaky way to derail me. Social media and online shopping are ever-present dangers. But those are too easy for my demon. Facebook and Amazon are low-hanging fruits. My demon’s got to wow me with the brilliant pointlessness of the snares it lays to trap me. Desks suddenly have to be rearranged. Lipsticks have to be sorted. Books have to be re-shelved. A couple of days ago, I had the overwhelming urge to reorganize my refrigerator magnet collection. Seriously. The distractions aren’t all inane. So far this month, I’ve plotted an adult and an MG fantasy, a new mystery series, and a vampire thriller. None of these have anything to do with the manuscript I’m officially working on for NaNoWriMo, but they are great stories (which I jotted down in a notebook and put aside). But, mostly, the distractions are, well, refrigerator magnets.

I’ve got no easy answers or sure-fire tactics for caging the demon. I just have to keep on writing and do my best to ignore the distractions or, at least, give in to them only briefly, acknowledge them as distractions, and get back to work. I’ve given some thought to why my brain does this to me. One reason—my mind is so full of stories (As an introverted only child, making up stories in my head was one of my primary modes of entertainment. It’s practically reflexive now.) that when I open the door to one, dozens, tens of dozens, rush the door trying to get through. “Pick me! Pick me!” they shout as they bombard me. It’s like a stampede at a Black Friday sale. Hence the notebook(s) for jotting random ideas down, in the hope that I can get back to them some day. Another reason—NaNoWriMo encourages you to just let go and write. Unleashed creativity is scary. I operate in a day-to-day world where putting on a game face and knowing when to keep your mouth shut is crucial to professional survival. (And before you @ me—Do you really want to work in a place devoid of professional courtesy, where everybody just dumps on everybody, all the time? No, you don’t, really. Manners matter.) Unleashed means out of control. What if I say (write) something that’s—not nice? Not polite? Not ladylike? What if I unleash and let all those inner demons run rampant all over the page? Scary.

Again, I have no solutions, no Obi Wan-style sage advice. Unlike in my books, I have no occult library with grimoires full of demon-banishing spells. But identifying the problem is the first step to solving it. And I’m a problem-solver. I’ll get there. For now, I’ll content myself with calling myself out when I give in to foolishness. And I’ll remind myself of a couple of the best things about NaNoWriMo: you’re only competing against yourself, it doesn’t matter what anyone else does, and there’s always next November.

'Tis The Season--To Check in the Closet and Under the Bed

by Alexia Gordon of the Femmes Fatales.

It’s October! This is my favorite month and not just because I was born in October. I know autumn officially starts in late September, but October feels like autumn really means it. Temperatures drop, at least in this part of the country, to sweater-weather range, leaves turn beautiful shades of red and gold, and spookiness takes center stage. Spooky stuff runs the gamut from kid-friendly trick-or-treat fun to Halloween fun of the adult variety to downright terrifying. There’s something for every bravery level. Lists of seasonal reading and viewing material are published, featuring books and movies and TV shows to thrill, chill, and scare the bejeezus out of their audiences. Sisters in Crime picks supernatural mysteries for its October ALA Bookclub Central list (http://www.bookclubcentral.org/2019/09/30/october-picks-from-sisters-in-crime-things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/). This year’s list, Things that Go Bump in the Night, includes Killing in C Sharp, one of my Gethsemane Brown Mysteries. Book Riot published a list of “13 Books to Keep You in a Spooky Mood All Year Round” (https://bookriot.com/2018/10/30/spooky-books-for-halloween/) last year and “10 Horror Book Series to Get You in the Halloween Spirit” (https://bookriot.com/2019/09/13/horror-book-series/) this year. They also offered a list of suggestions for bookish Halloween décor (https://bookriot.com/2019/09/27/halloween-decor-for-book-lovers/) to help readers decorate their reading nooks in the spirit of the season. And, for readers who like to play dress-up, lists of literary Halloween costumes abound (https://www.weareteachers.com/best-literary-halloween-costumes-for-teachers/, https://bookriot.com/2017/10/10/literary-halloween-costumes/, https://www.buzzfeed.com/mallorymcinnis/lets-make-trick-or-booking-a-thing).

I don’t much go in for costumes or home dec but I love a scary story. Some of my favorites are—everything by Edgar Allan Poe, the ghost stories of M.R. James, and “The Boogeyman” by Stephen King. I don’t rely solely on literature to scare myself silly. Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds gives me the creeps and makes me suspicious of our fine-feathered (so-called?) friends. Hitchcock’s Psycho and the Stephen King-derived 1408 and The Shining give me second thoughts about hotels. Laura is another favorite. It’s not a horror movie but it’s such an eerily atmospheric noir film it feels at home during the spooky season. The 1963 film, The Haunting, creeps me out even more than the Shirley Jackson novel, The Haunting of Hill House, that it’s based on. I can’t leave out the 80’s slasher films, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and Friday the 13^th. William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist makes my list, as does the 1976 version of The Omen (damn, that kid is creepy), Scream, and John Carpenter’s The Fog (1980). I must add Nicole Kidman’s The Others—about which I can say nothing without giving away the twist. The Babadook creeped me out so much it took me three tries to get through it. A more recent scary favorite is Netflix’s Malevolent. A couple of con artist siblings find out the joke’s on them when their fake ghost hunt turns out to be not-so-fake. Malevolent achieves what I love—a genuine creep-out without excessive gore.

Let me not leave out TV. “American Horror Story” disturbed me so much I couldn’t watch it. Same for the short-lived “The Exorcist” TV series and the long-running “Supernatural.” (This is a compliment.) Less disturbing (meaning I can make it all the way through episodes without turning on all the lights, checking to make sure the doors are locked and sitting with my back against the wall so no one can sneak up on me) but equally delightful (in a dark and twisted sort of way) are “unscripted” ghost hunting shows, like “The Dead Files” and “Ghost Adventures”, “The X-Files,” “Sleepy Hollow” (the Washington Irving story is fantastic, too.), “Twin Peaks” (1990-1991), and “The Twilight Zone.”

I can’t count the number of scary stories that are out there. If you need more suggestions, a Google search return lists such as, https://www.oregonlive.com/tv/2016/10/31_scary_tv_shows_ranked_from.html, https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/tv/a24213055/scary-tv-shows/, and https://www.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt/top_100_horror_movies/. If you’re a fan of spooky, you probably have favorites of your own. Please share—what are some of your favorite seasonal reads and watches, from the not-so-scary to the jump-out-of-your-skin terrifying?

 

A Graphic Break from Writing

I just hit send on edits for my fifth Gethsemane Brown novel, Execution in E. Just, as in forty-five minutes before I sat down to write this post. (Which is why it’s late and why it may ramble.) Right now, I’m at that stage in an author’s life when I’m relieved that I finally—finally—don’t have a manuscript deadline hanging over my head (oh, sweet freedom) and where I kind of hate writing stories and never want to write again.

Of course, that’s hyperbole. I don’t hate writing, I love it. I’m amazed when a random idea stirs thoughts that my brain translates into words and puts them together in some order that makes sense not only to me but to others. But writing is hard work, mentally and (according to my eyes, wrists, back, and neck) physically exhausting. After I finish a manuscript, I need a break before jumping into the next writing project. But what kind of break?

I don’t want to do nothing. There’s too much risk of never going back to doing something. Doing nothing is my default setting because it’s so easy. I could whittle my TBR pile. Get lost in the rabbit hole (or black hole) of social media. Catch up on long-neglected emails. (Apologies to everyone I’ve ignored. Blame the edits.) But, at least for a few days, I need to take a break that doesn’t involve words. I need to exercise the visual part of my brain, the part that’s been pushed to the back of the shelf during these months while I’ve been editing my book. And, no, exercise is not a synonym for bingewatch.

I’ve decided to participate in The Sketchbook Project, sponsored by The Brooklyn Art Library. The Sketchbook Project and its companion, The Tiny Sketchbook Project, are physical collections of more than 40,000 artist sketchbooks housed at the Brooklyn Art Library in Brooklyn, New York. To participate, you buy a blank, kraft paper-covered, 5x7” and/or 2.33x1.66” notebook, register the book’s unique barcode with the library, fill the pages and decorate the covers of your book, mail the book back to the library by the deadline (each volume of the Project has a deadline—there’s no escaping them!), eh, voila!—You’re in the permanent collection. The library sends a list of suggested themes for each volume but you don’t have to stick to them. You can Instagram your progress (natch), using hashtag #sbpprogress, and you can opt (for an additional fee) to have your finished sketchbook digitized for the library’s online archive.

I’m going to challenge myself to explore visual arts while I take a break from the literary arts. Then, it’s time to jump into book six.

Camping Out

 I’m up past my bedtime.

Why? Some kind of April Fools’ joke on myself? No. I’m up until an hour that’s going to make it painful to get up for work in the morning because today (Monday, the day I’m writing this) is the first day of Camp NaNoWriMo.

Many of you may be familiar with NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing Month. Every November writers worldwide challenge themselves to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. From “Once upon a time” to “The end,” that works out to just under 1,700 words per day. A lofty goal. Lofty and intimidating.

The folks behind NaNoWriMo came up with a challenge meant to be less daunting—Camp NaNoWriMo. Camp happens twice a year, in April and July. Writing goals are flexible. A minimum of thirty somethings—words, pages, hours, whatever else you can quantify, your choice—and you’re in. Just like at summer camp, you can join a cabin, in this case a virtual one. Your cabin mates are your writing support group, a small group of campers you select yourself or trust to the magic of algorithms. There are also camp counselors, authors who give pep talks and advice and answer questions. Each camp counselor is responsible for putting together care packages, short snippets designed to inspire, for one week.

This year, I’m joining Camp NaNoWriMo as both a camper and a counselor. I’m sending out care packages this week, the first week of April. My first post, for April Fools’ Day, was on procrastination. Rather, how not to procrastinate. Which is funny because procrastination is my super power. I’m really, really good at it. Which is why I’m up past my bedtime.

But better late than not at all. I resisted the urge to say, “it’s too late” or “I’m too tired”. I wrote words. Words that start to tell a story. A story that I’ve set a goal of having half-finished by the end of Camp. I’m going to receive as well as send care packages. I’m going to be a part of this supportive, caring, loving writing community and challenge myself to power through.

 

Are you a procrastinator? Share your tips for breaking the habit.

A Rose by Any Other Name

 

Today, Fatality in F, the fourth book in the Gethsemane Brown Mysteries, goes on sale. A momentous occasion! Four books makes #gethsemanebrown an official series instead of a trilogy. This time out, Gethsemane has to save Frankie from charges he murdered his rival in a rose-growing competition and from a stalker—who may be out to recreate a decades-old murder case.

I learned flowers were big business while writing Fatality in F. Did you know flower industry revenue totals more than $34 billion? Or that $1.9 billion is spent on flowers for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day? I learned about roses, in particular. 30-35% of cut flowers sold in a year are roses. The oldest record of a rose is from China 7,000 years ago. 200 million roses are given on Valentine’s Day.

Two of my favorite research resources were the David Austin catalog and American Rose, the American Rose Society’s magazine. I not only learned about rose competitions, the history of roses, and rose growing tips, I learned about the different types and names of roses. In Fatality in F, Frankie’s prize rose, an Old Rose, is named ‘Sandra Sechrest’ after a reader who won a naming opportunity in an auction. He also named a rambler for Gethsemane, ‘Fearless Brown’.

For a chance to win a signed copy of Fatality in F, test your knowledge of rose names. Leave a comment telling who, or what, the following roses:

    Lichfield Angel

    Eglantyne

                                    Gentle Hermione

                                    Louise Odier

were named for. I’ll choose one winner from the correct answers and announce them on this post tomorrow, Wednesday, 2/27. US winner, only.

You can buy Fatality in F, in hardback, paperback, ebook, or audio, on

Amazon: amzn.to/2EpERvJ

Barnes and Noble: bit.ly/2rvIeZC

iTunes: apple.co/2CtfohL

Kobo: bit.ly/2APlKrQ

Where is Tilda Harper Now?

by Toni L.P. Kelner / Leigh Perry

The late great Donald Westlake says he came up with Dortmunder, the protagonist of his hilarious caper novels, when he had an idea for a book that was just a bit too zany for Richard Stark, his established series protagonist. I had a similar experience when Laurie King and Leslie Klinger invited to write a short story for For the Sake of the Game: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon, which was just released this week.

It's a terrific collection, with a song written by Peter Beagle, a graphic story by William Kotzwinkle & Joe Servello, and short stories by Rhys Bowen, Reed Farrel Coleman, Jamie Freveletti, Alan Gordon, Gregg Hurtiz, Harley Jane Kozak, D.P. Lyle, Weston Ochse, Zoe Sharp, Duane Swierczynski, and F. Paul Wilson. And me, feeling delighted to be in such a talented company.

My original plan was to write a story in my Leigh Perry persona that featured Georgia Thackery and her skeletal pal Sid from the Family Skeleton series. Since both Georgia and Sid are  fond of pop culture, and have made references to the Great Detective more than once, I decided to send them to a Sherlock Holmes convention. It wouldn't be an erudite gathering like the Baker Street Irregular meetings--this would be a Holmes in the media fan con, with cosplay galore. Surely I could sneak Sid into a group like that!

I confess that this decision was partially for marketing reasons. When I publish a short story, I certainly hope people like it for its own sake, but I'm also hoping that people will like the characters enough to hunt up the books in the series. So naturally I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce new readers to Sid and Georgia.

I got started on "The Adventure of the Six Sherlocks," trying to come up with an excuse for Georgia to attend and a way Sid could move around unnoticed. But I got bogged down. The explanations were getting too complicated and taking up too much space for a short story. Maybe I could have done it in a novel, but it just wasn't working in the amount of space I had to work with.

Then, just as Dortmunder appeared to Westlake and volunteered, Tilda Harper said she'd take the job in my story. The difference is that she wasn't a new character at all. While some people only know my for my current series, the Family Skeleton books are actually my third series. Tilda was the protagonist of the second, the three books of my "Where are they now?" mysteries. She's a Boston-based freelance entertainment reporter who specializes in tracking down the formerly famous. And all too often, she finds murder.

Tilda was perfect for the job. While Georgia and Sid are fond of pop culture, Tilda lives and breathes the stuff. And of course she had the perfect excuse to be at this convention--she was going to interview an actor who'd played Holmes on TV. So I tossed in a friend of hers from the first book in her series, and it all came together.

Okay, it wasn't quite that easy. The Family Skeleton books are written in first person, while the "Where are they now?" mysteries were written in third person. Also, Georgia is a nice person, and as both a mother and an academic, is careful with her language. Tilda is single and a whole lot more acerbic. Cussing is fine with her! So it's a very different voice to work in. Not to mention that it's been long time since I wrote the Tilda books. Maybe some writers remember all the details of their previous work, but I afraid I'm not like that. I had to do research in my own series, which was an odd sensation. (Good news: I still like those books!) So by hook and by crook, I managed to slip back into that persona to finish the story. For fans of that series, you know where Tilda is now!

But just because I couldn't resist it, I threw in an exceedingly brief cameo for Sid, dressed appropriately for the occasion.

And just in case you read "The Adventure of the Six Sherlocks" and be intrigued by Tilda, you can check out those books, starting with Curse of the Kissing Cousins. All three books in the series are available as ebooks and as audio downloads and CDs.