Thursday's Guest Blogger
Book lovers will enjoy reading this post from author Joan Reeves about how our favorite books (or is the readers?) change as we get older. Rereading is a special treat when you look at it this way.
Excellent post on Feeling Uncomfortable and Doing It Anyway
If you didn't catch Beth Groundwater's post, "Feeling Uncomfortable," at the Inkspot Blog, you ought to check it out. It's great advice for all of us.
Inkspot, by the way, is the official blog for authors published by Midnight Ink.
And while we're on the subject, I just finished reading Deadly Currents, the first book in Beth's new Mandy Tanner (whitewater river ranger) series. I enjoyed this mystery from beginning to end. Not only did I get a quick lesson in whitewater rafting, ranger duties, and life saving techniques, but also a thrilling ride during the fast-paced action scenes. Highly recommended.
Book Revision Progress Report
I spent yesterday afternoon and will spend all day today reading and fixing, reading and fixing. I'm pleased with the results so far. I hope to be done on Friday. My sigh of relief will be audible to all when I finish.
My Favorite Foodie Blogs
I mean, everybody eats, right? To wrap up today's post, here are my favorites, in no particular order:
Foodie Road Show -- I knew Angela back in Indiana when she was a little tyke the same age as my youngest son. Now she's a Coloradoan like me, only she cooks (and gardens and takes stunning photos, etc. etc.).
Epicurean Vegan -- I'm not a vegan myself, but I do like to eat as healthy as my cravings allow. Even my chocolate stash is the good-for-you dark stuff. April is the blogger who posts at Epicurean Vegan, but she's also a writer and belongs to my critique group.
Mystery Lovers Kitchen -- Who wouldn't love a blog that posts recipes like Fresh Baked Doughnut Muffins and Apple Custard Cake? The contributors to this blog are cozy mystery writers who write about (what else) food...or coffee. One of the contributors is Elizabeth Spann Craig aka Riley Adams whose first two Memphis barbecue books arrived in my last amazon.com box.
Dying for Chocolate from chocoholic Janet Rudolph. I mean, really, do I have to explain why I love this one?
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Chiseled in Rock Tuesday: Finding the time to do what you want to do
My Tuesday post is all about cutting down on distractions and learning new habits from Leo Babauta at ZenHabits blog. Join me at Chiseled in Rock.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Retire into Writing by Mike Befeler, Guest Blogger
One of my favorite Colorado mystery authors, Mike Befeler, is here today with a post about his path to publication. If you haven't read the first two Paul Jacobson "Geezer-lit" novels, you're missing a bit of fun mixed with a few poignant moments all mixed up with murder. It's a winning combination.
The first two novels in the series, Retirement Homes are Murder and Living With Your Kids is Murders, are now available as ebooks.
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Retire Into Writing by Mike Befeler, Guest Blogger
At the age of 56 I made the decision to pursue fiction writing. I put the planning skills I had learned in business to use and followed the following steps:
1. I reviewed things I had really enjoyed doing over my lifetime.
2. I discovered that my list included creative activities such as writing and painting.
3. I made a commitment to begin writing.
4. After negotiating with my boss to work three days a week, I signed up for a fiction writing course at the University of Colorado as a way to jump start my writing. (If you’re 55 or older you can take any course at CU for free with the instructor’s permission.)
5. I began writing short stories and then novel length material
The reason I went through this process—I didn’t want just to retire away from my day job, I wanted to retire into something that I could pursue for the rest of my life. I was fortunate enough to publish my first novel before I retired, and now I’m pursing my retirement world as a speaker and author, something I’ll keep doing as long as the brain cells hold up.
After listening to authors who say they’ve been writing since they were eight years old, I represent the other end of the spectrum. Maybe I was a slow learner because I wasn’t that good an English student during high school and college, but over the course of a business career I learned how to put a sentence together, and you might even say I gained some experience with fiction writing because I used to write press releases.
Writing can be done at any age. Several years ago I mentored an eighth grade student who wrote the rough draft of a novel for a school project. On the other extreme Milliard Kaufman published his first novel, “Bowl of Cherries,” when he was 90 years old.
One of the major lessons I’ve learned in fiction writing is perseverance. Nothing happens quickly, and you have to keep trying. I didn’t sell my first short story until my 112th submission, but this isn’t that unusual. Several well-known examples: Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen received 134 rejections for “Chicken Soup of the Soul.” Louis L’Amour collected over 350 rejections for over 200 stories before making his first sale.
If anyone tells you that writing is easy, they’re lying. It’s the most difficult, frustrating, lonely and disappointing avocation. But it’s also the most incredible and fulfilling experience as well. I’m fortunate to be having published the third novel in my Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery series with a fourth under contract for release in December, 2012.
I enjoy writing about older characters. My protagonist, Paul Jacobson, is in his mid-eighties and suffers from short-term memory loss but still becomes an amateur sleuth and even has a romance with a young chick in her seventies. So if you meet someone like Paul with short-term memory loss, you only have a second, third or fourth chance to make a good first impression.
I try to give a balanced picture of the aging process: the problems but also the vitality, sense of humor and wisdom of older people.
In my latest book, Senior Moments Are Murder, Paul is in Venice Beach, California, and learns about the beach scene, graffiti artists, homeless people, disreputable art dealers, and must stay a step ahead of the police and the bad guys. I’ve visited Venice Beach because our daughter lives there. It’s a place where I can sit for hours and watch every imaginable form and type of human being walk by. So now that I’ve retired into writing, I have an opportunity to visit my kids and grandkids and do a little research along the way.
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Thanks a whole bunch for being here today, Mike. I'm looking forward to reading Senior Moments Are Murder and plan to buy my copy at the Colorado Gold book sale.
To learn more about Mike and his books, visit his website and blog.
The first two novels in the series, Retirement Homes are Murder and Living With Your Kids is Murders, are now available as ebooks.
-------------------------
Retire Into Writing by Mike Befeler, Guest Blogger
At the age of 56 I made the decision to pursue fiction writing. I put the planning skills I had learned in business to use and followed the following steps:
1. I reviewed things I had really enjoyed doing over my lifetime.
2. I discovered that my list included creative activities such as writing and painting.
3. I made a commitment to begin writing.
4. After negotiating with my boss to work three days a week, I signed up for a fiction writing course at the University of Colorado as a way to jump start my writing. (If you’re 55 or older you can take any course at CU for free with the instructor’s permission.)
5. I began writing short stories and then novel length material
The reason I went through this process—I didn’t want just to retire away from my day job, I wanted to retire into something that I could pursue for the rest of my life. I was fortunate enough to publish my first novel before I retired, and now I’m pursing my retirement world as a speaker and author, something I’ll keep doing as long as the brain cells hold up.
After listening to authors who say they’ve been writing since they were eight years old, I represent the other end of the spectrum. Maybe I was a slow learner because I wasn’t that good an English student during high school and college, but over the course of a business career I learned how to put a sentence together, and you might even say I gained some experience with fiction writing because I used to write press releases.
Writing can be done at any age. Several years ago I mentored an eighth grade student who wrote the rough draft of a novel for a school project. On the other extreme Milliard Kaufman published his first novel, “Bowl of Cherries,” when he was 90 years old.
One of the major lessons I’ve learned in fiction writing is perseverance. Nothing happens quickly, and you have to keep trying. I didn’t sell my first short story until my 112th submission, but this isn’t that unusual. Several well-known examples: Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen received 134 rejections for “Chicken Soup of the Soul.” Louis L’Amour collected over 350 rejections for over 200 stories before making his first sale.
If anyone tells you that writing is easy, they’re lying. It’s the most difficult, frustrating, lonely and disappointing avocation. But it’s also the most incredible and fulfilling experience as well. I’m fortunate to be having published the third novel in my Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery series with a fourth under contract for release in December, 2012.
I enjoy writing about older characters. My protagonist, Paul Jacobson, is in his mid-eighties and suffers from short-term memory loss but still becomes an amateur sleuth and even has a romance with a young chick in her seventies. So if you meet someone like Paul with short-term memory loss, you only have a second, third or fourth chance to make a good first impression.
I try to give a balanced picture of the aging process: the problems but also the vitality, sense of humor and wisdom of older people.
In my latest book, Senior Moments Are Murder, Paul is in Venice Beach, California, and learns about the beach scene, graffiti artists, homeless people, disreputable art dealers, and must stay a step ahead of the police and the bad guys. I’ve visited Venice Beach because our daughter lives there. It’s a place where I can sit for hours and watch every imaginable form and type of human being walk by. So now that I’ve retired into writing, I have an opportunity to visit my kids and grandkids and do a little research along the way.
-------------------------
Thanks a whole bunch for being here today, Mike. I'm looking forward to reading Senior Moments Are Murder and plan to buy my copy at the Colorado Gold book sale.
To learn more about Mike and his books, visit his website and blog.
Friday, August 26, 2011
A Little of This and a Little of That
Congratulations to
Margot Kinberg
Winner of a copy of
How to Write a Dick: A Guide for Writing Fictional Sleuths from a Couple of Real-Life Sleuths
Margot Kinberg
Winner of a copy of
How to Write a Dick: A Guide for Writing Fictional Sleuths from a Couple of Real-Life Sleuths
Kindle edition
from the Writing PIs, Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman
from the Writing PIs, Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman
A Special Guest on Monday
I have a special Monday guest blogger next week. Mystery author Mike Befeler has a new release in his Paul Jacobson geezer lit mystery series. Senior Moments are Murder is the follow on to Retirement Homes are Murder and Living With Your Kids is Murder. If you haven't sampled this series yet, you really ought to give it a try.
Protagonists "of a certain age" are fun to write and great fun to read, and when you add a few quirky oldsters and a pre-teen granddaughter sleuth into the mix, the tale is irresistible. Mike has added an additional twist--his protagonist suffers from short term memory loss which seriously complicates his sleuthing abilities. I hope you'll drop by on Monday and enjoy Mike's post on retiring into a writing career.
The Insecure Writer's Support Group
Alex J. Cavanaugh has another great idea for a blog hop. This one is The Insecure Writer's Support Group and Guest Post.
"Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!"
To find out how to participate, follow the link above and read the full post.
Wredheaded Writer
I just discovered this blog through Twitter and really like what I see. There are lots of writing tips from lots of contributors, plus occasional posts from various folks about how they choose the books they read. The blogger is novelist Dixon Rice, who was interviewed at We Do Write blog (which, by the way, is run by Dorothy Dreyer and is also very interesting for those of us who like to read interviews with aspiring writers).
And Last But Not Least, Katie Kitten Says Hi
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tips and Techniques for Interviewing Witnesses by Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman, Guest Bloggers
Since I've never met a real life private investigator before, I'm very excited to have Colleen and Shaun guest post for us. This PI and writing team has conducted online classes, workshops at conferences, and blogged extensively about principles of investigation especially geared toward mystery writers. They are members of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.
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Tips and Techniques for Interviewing Witnesses by Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman, Guest Bloggers
We’re private investigators who specialize in legal investigations, which means we conduct a lot of interviews with witnesses. Because many readers of Patricia's blog are mystery writers, we thought we’d offer some interview tips and techniques that writers might use in their stories.
First, let’s briefly discuss the difference between interrogating and interviewing.
Interrogating vs. Interviewing
In a nutshell, interrogation uses accusatory, closed-ended, leading questions to get a witness to agree with the interviewer. Interviewing relies on open-ended questions (who, what, when, where, why) with the goal of obtaining a maximum amount of information.
Generally speaking, police officers are seeking a desired answer when they interrogate witnesses. Conversely, private investigators are seeking lots of information, and will follow any conversational thread applicable to an investigation.
For the rest of this article, we’ll focus on interviews.
Three Tips for Conducting Interviews
• Get on it. It’s often critical for an investigator to quickly contact witnesses and schedule interviews because the closer the event, the better the person’s recall.
• Schedule the interview when the person will be the most relaxed and not have demands on his time. But if the person keeps postponing the interview or using other ploys to avoid being interviewed, a shrewd investigator might show up unannounced at the person’s home. This tactic pressures the witness into a quick answer, if for no other reason than to get the interviewer off the doorstep.
• Prepare. Sometimes in film and movies, the private eye seems to stumble into interviews and ask questions on the fly. In real life, an investigator crafts questions ahead of time based on the type of information she’s seeking (along with background research from police reports, newspaper articles, and so on).
It’s great when a witness is conversational – all an investigator needs to do is guide the conversation. But how might an interviewer handle anxious or reticent witnesses?
Handling the Anxious Witness
Recently, we handled a sensitive interview that involved a young man who had witnessed an assault on our client. The young man was a drug addict, so he was jumpy, nervous and uncomfortable.
We set the interview at a time close to the event and convenient for the witness. We came prepared with a video camera, still camera, recorder, paper and pens (so we’re ready to document the interview in a variety of ways). He did not want to be filmed, but agreed to his voice being recorded.
To put him at ease, we initiated the interview by talking about the young man’s interests before gradually introducing our questions. He’d made it clear he’d do anything to avoid being served with a subpoena, so we didn’t tell him about the one we had in our briefcase until after we’d completed the interview.
Interviewing the Reticent Witness
It can be difficult to interview reticent witnesses, who might be partisan, scared, sick or afraid of being dragged into something that they do not want to testify about. To ease the person’s concerns, the interviewer might start out by acknowledging that interviewee’s reticence or fear, and letting the person know that the interviewer empathizes with them. Finding a shared interest helps loosen tight-lipped witnesses.
These witnesses need to be led around a little, primarily by the use of leading questions. Also, it helps to let them see, or identify, with the interviewer’s difficulty and why the interviewer needs their help (“Daniel, we’re both nervous, but I need to get all the information I can to help keep Sam Smith out of prison for thirty years for a robbery that you and I know he did not commit. So tell me, he was at your house until the six o’clock news came on, right, the day he was arrested for the robbery?”).
For the tight-lipped witness, the interviewer is a salesman, a psychologist and a redeemer. Just as a lot rides on the outcome of our investigation agency’s interviews, your fictional character might also be passionate about the outcome.
Thank you, Patricia, for hosting us today. We’re giving away a Kindle copy of How to Write a Dick to one of today’s visitors (we’ll randomly pick a name at the end of the day). You don’t need a Kindle device as Amazon also offers free Kindle app downloads for PCs, Macs and other devices (instructions accompany the giveaway).
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Colleen and Shaun, thank you so much for being here today. You're such a great help to mystery and thriller writers. We really appreciate it.
For those leaving comments in the hopes of winning the free copy of How to Write a Dick, please be sure to include your e-mail address in the comment or easily accessible through the profile linked to your name.
Colleen Collins is co-owner of Highlands Investigations in Denver, Colorado, where she specializes in witness locates and interviews, surveillances and infidelity investigations. Her articles on private investigations have appeared on various Internet sites as well as in PI Magazine, Romance Writers Report, Pursuit Magazine and other publications. She has written 20 novels for both Harlequin and Dorchester, several of which have placed in the finals for national competitions, including the prestigious Holt Medallion and RITA awards.
Shaun Kaufman, co-owner of Highlands Investigations, has worked in and around the criminal justice field for more than 30 years, as a former trial attorney and a current legal investigator. He has published articles in PI magazine, the Denver Law Review and other publications. In his former career, Shaun has hired and managed private investigators, training them on such issues as ethics, death penalty litigation, homicide and gang evidence, and search and seizure techniques.
You can learn more about the writing PIs at their blog, Guns, Gams, and Gumshoes.
Their book How to Write a Dick: A Guide for Writing Fictional Sleuths from a Couple of Real-Life Sleuths is available on Kindle and Nook. More about How to Write a Dick:
The private eye genre has come a long way, baby, with new subgenres – from teenage PIs to vampire gumshoes to geriatric sleuths – attracting new readers every year. Although it can be safely said that all fictional sleuths, such as Edgar Allan Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin and Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski, are thinking machines, depending on their powers of observation, analysis and curiosity, the 21st century has opened up a brave new world of investigative technology, tools and Internet resources that would have made Sherlock Holmes weep with joy.
Unfortunately, most writers are not aware of these state-of-the-art developments that shape today’s professional private dick, which sometimes leave writers floundering with impossible and antiquated devices, characters and methods in stories. Which is why we wrote How to Write a Dick: A Guide for Writing Fictional Sleuths from a Couple of Real-Life Sleuths, which isn’t about how to write a novel, but what you need to know to write an authentic, compelling 21st-century sleuth character or story.
-------------------------
Tips and Techniques for Interviewing Witnesses by Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman, Guest Bloggers
We’re private investigators who specialize in legal investigations, which means we conduct a lot of interviews with witnesses. Because many readers of Patricia's blog are mystery writers, we thought we’d offer some interview tips and techniques that writers might use in their stories.
First, let’s briefly discuss the difference between interrogating and interviewing.
Interrogating vs. Interviewing
In a nutshell, interrogation uses accusatory, closed-ended, leading questions to get a witness to agree with the interviewer. Interviewing relies on open-ended questions (who, what, when, where, why) with the goal of obtaining a maximum amount of information.
Generally speaking, police officers are seeking a desired answer when they interrogate witnesses. Conversely, private investigators are seeking lots of information, and will follow any conversational thread applicable to an investigation.
For the rest of this article, we’ll focus on interviews.
Three Tips for Conducting Interviews
• Get on it. It’s often critical for an investigator to quickly contact witnesses and schedule interviews because the closer the event, the better the person’s recall.
• Schedule the interview when the person will be the most relaxed and not have demands on his time. But if the person keeps postponing the interview or using other ploys to avoid being interviewed, a shrewd investigator might show up unannounced at the person’s home. This tactic pressures the witness into a quick answer, if for no other reason than to get the interviewer off the doorstep.
• Prepare. Sometimes in film and movies, the private eye seems to stumble into interviews and ask questions on the fly. In real life, an investigator crafts questions ahead of time based on the type of information she’s seeking (along with background research from police reports, newspaper articles, and so on).
It’s great when a witness is conversational – all an investigator needs to do is guide the conversation. But how might an interviewer handle anxious or reticent witnesses?
Handling the Anxious Witness
Recently, we handled a sensitive interview that involved a young man who had witnessed an assault on our client. The young man was a drug addict, so he was jumpy, nervous and uncomfortable.
We set the interview at a time close to the event and convenient for the witness. We came prepared with a video camera, still camera, recorder, paper and pens (so we’re ready to document the interview in a variety of ways). He did not want to be filmed, but agreed to his voice being recorded.
To put him at ease, we initiated the interview by talking about the young man’s interests before gradually introducing our questions. He’d made it clear he’d do anything to avoid being served with a subpoena, so we didn’t tell him about the one we had in our briefcase until after we’d completed the interview.
Interviewing the Reticent Witness
It can be difficult to interview reticent witnesses, who might be partisan, scared, sick or afraid of being dragged into something that they do not want to testify about. To ease the person’s concerns, the interviewer might start out by acknowledging that interviewee’s reticence or fear, and letting the person know that the interviewer empathizes with them. Finding a shared interest helps loosen tight-lipped witnesses.
These witnesses need to be led around a little, primarily by the use of leading questions. Also, it helps to let them see, or identify, with the interviewer’s difficulty and why the interviewer needs their help (“Daniel, we’re both nervous, but I need to get all the information I can to help keep Sam Smith out of prison for thirty years for a robbery that you and I know he did not commit. So tell me, he was at your house until the six o’clock news came on, right, the day he was arrested for the robbery?”).
For the tight-lipped witness, the interviewer is a salesman, a psychologist and a redeemer. Just as a lot rides on the outcome of our investigation agency’s interviews, your fictional character might also be passionate about the outcome.
Thank you, Patricia, for hosting us today. We’re giving away a Kindle copy of How to Write a Dick to one of today’s visitors (we’ll randomly pick a name at the end of the day). You don’t need a Kindle device as Amazon also offers free Kindle app downloads for PCs, Macs and other devices (instructions accompany the giveaway).
-------------------------
Colleen and Shaun, thank you so much for being here today. You're such a great help to mystery and thriller writers. We really appreciate it.
For those leaving comments in the hopes of winning the free copy of How to Write a Dick, please be sure to include your e-mail address in the comment or easily accessible through the profile linked to your name.
Colleen Collins is co-owner of Highlands Investigations in Denver, Colorado, where she specializes in witness locates and interviews, surveillances and infidelity investigations. Her articles on private investigations have appeared on various Internet sites as well as in PI Magazine, Romance Writers Report, Pursuit Magazine and other publications. She has written 20 novels for both Harlequin and Dorchester, several of which have placed in the finals for national competitions, including the prestigious Holt Medallion and RITA awards.
Shaun Kaufman, co-owner of Highlands Investigations, has worked in and around the criminal justice field for more than 30 years, as a former trial attorney and a current legal investigator. He has published articles in PI magazine, the Denver Law Review and other publications. In his former career, Shaun has hired and managed private investigators, training them on such issues as ethics, death penalty litigation, homicide and gang evidence, and search and seizure techniques.
You can learn more about the writing PIs at their blog, Guns, Gams, and Gumshoes.
Their book How to Write a Dick: A Guide for Writing Fictional Sleuths from a Couple of Real-Life Sleuths is available on Kindle and Nook. More about How to Write a Dick:
The private eye genre has come a long way, baby, with new subgenres – from teenage PIs to vampire gumshoes to geriatric sleuths – attracting new readers every year. Although it can be safely said that all fictional sleuths, such as Edgar Allan Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin and Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski, are thinking machines, depending on their powers of observation, analysis and curiosity, the 21st century has opened up a brave new world of investigative technology, tools and Internet resources that would have made Sherlock Holmes weep with joy.
Unfortunately, most writers are not aware of these state-of-the-art developments that shape today’s professional private dick, which sometimes leave writers floundering with impossible and antiquated devices, characters and methods in stories. Which is why we wrote How to Write a Dick: A Guide for Writing Fictional Sleuths from a Couple of Real-Life Sleuths, which isn’t about how to write a novel, but what you need to know to write an authentic, compelling 21st-century sleuth character or story.
“Forget Google and Bing. When you need to research PI work, go to the experts, Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman: they live it, they teach it, they write it. How to Write a Dick is the best work of its kind I’ve ever come across because it covers the whole spectrum in an entertaining style that will appeal to layman and lawmen alike. This will be the industry standard for years to come.”
- Reed Farrel Coleman, three-time Shamus Award winner for Best PI Novel of the Year and author of Hurt Machine
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Wednesday Scramble
Thursday Guest Bloggers
My most unusual guest this Thursday is the Private Investigator team of Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman known as the Writing PIs. Active as investigators, instructors, advisers to crime writers, and authors in their own right, the Writing PIs are celebrating the release of How to Write a Dick: A Guide for Writing Fictional Sleuths from a Couple of Real-Life Sleuths.
More Great Info from Agent Rachelle Gardner
Is there any logical reason why an author would choose a smaller advance over a larger one? The answer is yes. Find out more in Rachelle's blog post: Author Advances: Is There Such a Thing as Too Much?
What I'm Reading
Just started Beth Groundwater's Deadly Currents, the first book in her white water river ranger series. This mystery has a "hit the ground running and don't stop" beginning that kept me on the edge of my seat (and kept me up past my bedtime). I can't wait to pick this one up and read on.
Next I'm going to read Todd Mitchell's YA novel, The Secret to Lying. I've heard great things about this book, and after attending Todd's class Sunday, I'm anxious to see how he puts his plot together. It was an excellent class, by the way.
Countdown to the Conference
In two weeks and one day, I'll head for Denver for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference. The lineup of classes, workshops, conference sessions, panels, and speakers is online if you're interested in attending.
Today's Schedule
I have another full day of book revising/editing planned.
Phone ringer turned off? Check.
Plenty of ice cubes for iced tea? Check.
Husband out of the house most of the day and evening? Check.
Chocolate supply replenished? Check.
Okay, I'm ready. Butt in chair, hands on keyboard!
My most unusual guest this Thursday is the Private Investigator team of Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman known as the Writing PIs. Active as investigators, instructors, advisers to crime writers, and authors in their own right, the Writing PIs are celebrating the release of How to Write a Dick: A Guide for Writing Fictional Sleuths from a Couple of Real-Life Sleuths.
More Great Info from Agent Rachelle Gardner
Is there any logical reason why an author would choose a smaller advance over a larger one? The answer is yes. Find out more in Rachelle's blog post: Author Advances: Is There Such a Thing as Too Much?
What I'm Reading
Just started Beth Groundwater's Deadly Currents, the first book in her white water river ranger series. This mystery has a "hit the ground running and don't stop" beginning that kept me on the edge of my seat (and kept me up past my bedtime). I can't wait to pick this one up and read on.
Next I'm going to read Todd Mitchell's YA novel, The Secret to Lying. I've heard great things about this book, and after attending Todd's class Sunday, I'm anxious to see how he puts his plot together. It was an excellent class, by the way.
Countdown to the Conference
In two weeks and one day, I'll head for Denver for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference. The lineup of classes, workshops, conference sessions, panels, and speakers is online if you're interested in attending.
Today's Schedule
I have another full day of book revising/editing planned.
Phone ringer turned off? Check.
Plenty of ice cubes for iced tea? Check.
Husband out of the house most of the day and evening? Check.
Chocolate supply replenished? Check.
Okay, I'm ready. Butt in chair, hands on keyboard!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Chiseled in Rock Tuesday: Why you need lots of reviews for your books
Please join me at Chiseled in Rock blog where I've posted about why you need lots of reviews for your traditionally published or self-published books.
Monday, August 22, 2011
It's Monday Again
And I have a case of blogger brain freeze.
I'll catch up with you tomorrow at Chiseled in Rock blog.
I'll catch up with you tomorrow at Chiseled in Rock blog.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Revisions, A New Roof Next Door, and a Writing Class
The good news: Today and tomorrow will be more spend-most-of-the-day-on-novel-revisions days. I'm closing in on the final chapters. I'll still have two more passes to make through the manuscript, but at least the hardest part will be done. I'll squeeze in a visit to the Farmer's Market on Saturday, of course. Can't miss that.
The bad news: Our next door neighbor is getting a new roof and the shingles were delivered yesterday. The neighbor's garage is right next to my office. When the roofing crew arrives, it will sound as though they're pounding on my wall. My little foam ear plugs will not do the job, so I may have to find another place to work for a few hours. Luckily, we have a library branch not too far away, and it's a great place to write.
On Sunday afternoon I'm taking a three-hour class at the Northern Colorado Writers studio called Plotting and Shaping Compelling Stories taught by middle grade/YA author Todd Mitchell. Todd is the Director of the Beginning Creative Writing Teaching Program at Colorado State University. He's a very popular speaker and teacher, and his YA book, The Secret to Lying, has picked up some excellent reviews. I'm hoping Todd will teach me how to avoid getting tangled up in my own plot while I'm writing the first draft.
I hope you have something great planned for your weekend.
The bad news: Our next door neighbor is getting a new roof and the shingles were delivered yesterday. The neighbor's garage is right next to my office. When the roofing crew arrives, it will sound as though they're pounding on my wall. My little foam ear plugs will not do the job, so I may have to find another place to work for a few hours. Luckily, we have a library branch not too far away, and it's a great place to write.
On Sunday afternoon I'm taking a three-hour class at the Northern Colorado Writers studio called Plotting and Shaping Compelling Stories taught by middle grade/YA author Todd Mitchell. Todd is the Director of the Beginning Creative Writing Teaching Program at Colorado State University. He's a very popular speaker and teacher, and his YA book, The Secret to Lying, has picked up some excellent reviews. I'm hoping Todd will teach me how to avoid getting tangled up in my own plot while I'm writing the first draft.
I hope you have something great planned for your weekend.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Writing a Sequel by Mark Stevens, Guest Blogger
Mark Stevens is another one of those Colorado authors I love to talk about. As member and Program Chair of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, he already has a big job putting together together the excellent monthly programs for RMFW. On top of that, he has a real job in the real world (as opposed to the writing world which is surreal). And in his spare time, he writes mysteries.
Antler Dust is a top notch story with a well-drawn protagonist. I'm looking forward to another good read in Buried by the Roan.
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Writing a Sequel by Mark Stevens, Guest Blogger
Writing a sequel scared me to the deep, dark core.
The process was a mystery.
How would I make sure my main character changed but…stayed consistent?
How would I keep the story moving…and not let it bog down in back story?
For the two or three people out there who have not yet read Antler's Dust how would I explain how the central protagonist, hunting guide Allison Coil, came to live in the Flat Tops Wilderness?
And (gulp, gasp, ack) what would I do for a plot that would be different…but not too different?
I didn’t have much of a choice. Readers seemed to respond to Allison. She’s tough. She’s outdoorsy. She’s fearless. (I was about to have her back shoulder inked in a dragon tattoo, but then, oh well. Never mind.)
So I needed to bring her back. Okay, well, the truth: I liked her. I wanted to keep her around, too. I wanted to throw some more trouble her way and see how she handled it.
So, what’s a writer to do? How about start with the masters?
Like Nevada Barr, Lee Child, Stephen Hamilton or Ruth Rendell?
I studied. I read. I studied some more. If you read a mystery novel with this particular issue in mind, you notice that most of the character information in a sequel (drum roll, please) comes through character revelations. I tend to prefer writers who don’t put a “stop” sign in the middle of the plot and halt for a few paragraphs (or pages) of background. Those stop signs are like the writer pressing “pause” on the movie projector and stepping out into a spotlight by the stage and saying, “before we go on, you need to know about this one thing that happened to her (or him) back when our hero (or heroine) was a naïve child.” (Or something to that effect).
I like stories that slip this information into your head as deftly as a new, hidden tax on your cell phone bill. I like the information subtle. I want it feathered in. I want just enough, no more.
I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s still so utterly tempting to put up the stop sign and let the back-story spill. But I noticed with Barr, Child, Hamilton & Rendell that they trust the reader. They might mention a few key details, but they don’t whack you over the head with a cast-iron frying pan. If anything, the good ones err on the side of too little information.
And then it occurred to me that my favorite television shows—the episodic ones—don’t spend a moment on back story. Think about it.
(I’m going to show my age here, but still, think about it.)
Kojak. Columbo. Perry Mason. Hawaii 5-0 (Jack Lord style).
These are episodes involving the same character and the back-story is just a fact of life for those who might want to dig deeper or start with the pilot.
Most readers want story, which means that the events keep moving. Less back-story quicksand, more grease. More action. They want a reason to turn the page, not reach for the No-Doz.
So I plunged ahead. The result is the sequel, Buried by the Roan. It sends Allison into the fray over fracking (hydraulic fracturing for natural gas) and a neighborly (i.e., bitter) land-grab case using a little-known Colorado law called “adverse possession.”
She is still Allison.
There’s a bit of “old” information.
I tried to weave it in so it’s not too obvious.
Most of all, I tried to keep Allison moving and thinking, being herself.
-------------------------
Mark, thanks so much for being my guest today. As you know, fracking is a major topic of discussion in my corner of Northern Colorado. Hardly a day goes by without a new article in the paper detailing the debates and protests. Buried by the Roan should be a bestseller in this part of the country.
For a list of Mark's upcoming appearances, visit the Events page of his website. You can also find a short synopsis of each book and an excellent bunch of reviews.
Antler Dust is a top notch story with a well-drawn protagonist. I'm looking forward to another good read in Buried by the Roan.
-------------------------
Writing a Sequel by Mark Stevens, Guest Blogger
Writing a sequel scared me to the deep, dark core.
The process was a mystery.
How would I make sure my main character changed but…stayed consistent?
How would I keep the story moving…and not let it bog down in back story?
For the two or three people out there who have not yet read Antler's Dust how would I explain how the central protagonist, hunting guide Allison Coil, came to live in the Flat Tops Wilderness?
And (gulp, gasp, ack) what would I do for a plot that would be different…but not too different?
I didn’t have much of a choice. Readers seemed to respond to Allison. She’s tough. She’s outdoorsy. She’s fearless. (I was about to have her back shoulder inked in a dragon tattoo, but then, oh well. Never mind.)
So I needed to bring her back. Okay, well, the truth: I liked her. I wanted to keep her around, too. I wanted to throw some more trouble her way and see how she handled it.
So, what’s a writer to do? How about start with the masters?
Like Nevada Barr, Lee Child, Stephen Hamilton or Ruth Rendell?
I studied. I read. I studied some more. If you read a mystery novel with this particular issue in mind, you notice that most of the character information in a sequel (drum roll, please) comes through character revelations. I tend to prefer writers who don’t put a “stop” sign in the middle of the plot and halt for a few paragraphs (or pages) of background. Those stop signs are like the writer pressing “pause” on the movie projector and stepping out into a spotlight by the stage and saying, “before we go on, you need to know about this one thing that happened to her (or him) back when our hero (or heroine) was a naïve child.” (Or something to that effect).
I like stories that slip this information into your head as deftly as a new, hidden tax on your cell phone bill. I like the information subtle. I want it feathered in. I want just enough, no more.
I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s still so utterly tempting to put up the stop sign and let the back-story spill. But I noticed with Barr, Child, Hamilton & Rendell that they trust the reader. They might mention a few key details, but they don’t whack you over the head with a cast-iron frying pan. If anything, the good ones err on the side of too little information.
And then it occurred to me that my favorite television shows—the episodic ones—don’t spend a moment on back story. Think about it.
(I’m going to show my age here, but still, think about it.)
Kojak. Columbo. Perry Mason. Hawaii 5-0 (Jack Lord style).
These are episodes involving the same character and the back-story is just a fact of life for those who might want to dig deeper or start with the pilot.
Most readers want story, which means that the events keep moving. Less back-story quicksand, more grease. More action. They want a reason to turn the page, not reach for the No-Doz.
So I plunged ahead. The result is the sequel, Buried by the Roan. It sends Allison into the fray over fracking (hydraulic fracturing for natural gas) and a neighborly (i.e., bitter) land-grab case using a little-known Colorado law called “adverse possession.”
She is still Allison.
There’s a bit of “old” information.
I tried to weave it in so it’s not too obvious.
Most of all, I tried to keep Allison moving and thinking, being herself.
-------------------------
Mark, thanks so much for being my guest today. As you know, fracking is a major topic of discussion in my corner of Northern Colorado. Hardly a day goes by without a new article in the paper detailing the debates and protests. Buried by the Roan should be a bestseller in this part of the country.
For a list of Mark's upcoming appearances, visit the Events page of his website. You can also find a short synopsis of each book and an excellent bunch of reviews.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Wednesday Scramble
Tomorrow's Guest
Be very excited! My guest blogger tomorrow is Mark Stevens, author of the newly released Buried by the Roan, the second Allison Coil mystery (set in Colorado).
Contests from Springfield Writers Guild
Prizes for prose and poetry. For more information, visit the Springfield Writers Guild website. The 2011 contests and rules are here.
Worst Movies Ever Blogfest!
Quoting from Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog: "On Monday, September 19, post a list of up to ten of the worst movies you’ve ever had the misfortune to watch. Films that just oozed awfulness and featured plot holes so big you could drive a bus through them. Any genre or year, but only theater and straight to video/DVD titles. (Otherwise we’d all list every movie ever made by the SyFy Channel!) Sign up, grab the button, and on September 19, give us the worst! And be sure to visit others participating in the blogfest."
Go to Alex's blog to sign on and pick up the blogfest logo.
Are You Going to Join NaNoWriMo This Year?
If you don't already know about National Novel Writing Month in November, you're probably not a writer.
So writers, have you participated in NaNoWriMo before? If so, tell us about your experience. Are you going to do it this year? Why or why not?
I've decided to give it a try. Since my current WIP, which I'm finally wrapping up, took two years to write, I need to try a focused program and see how fast I could work if I put my mind to it. I figure if I lay in a good supply of coffee and chocolate, and restrict my To Do List to high priority items, I can do it.
Last year I had decided to give it a try and then chickened out before I'd even signed up at the NaNoWriMo website. This year I think I can, I think I can...
Great News From Kerrie Flanagan, Director of Northern Colorado Writers
Congratulations to Kerrie who has an article on marketing published in the front of Writer's Market 2012. That's a wonderful accomplishment, Kerrie.
Be very excited! My guest blogger tomorrow is Mark Stevens, author of the newly released Buried by the Roan, the second Allison Coil mystery (set in Colorado).
Contests from Springfield Writers Guild
Prizes for prose and poetry. For more information, visit the Springfield Writers Guild website. The 2011 contests and rules are here.
Worst Movies Ever Blogfest!
Quoting from Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog: "On Monday, September 19, post a list of up to ten of the worst movies you’ve ever had the misfortune to watch. Films that just oozed awfulness and featured plot holes so big you could drive a bus through them. Any genre or year, but only theater and straight to video/DVD titles. (Otherwise we’d all list every movie ever made by the SyFy Channel!) Sign up, grab the button, and on September 19, give us the worst! And be sure to visit others participating in the blogfest."
Go to Alex's blog to sign on and pick up the blogfest logo.
Are You Going to Join NaNoWriMo This Year?
If you don't already know about National Novel Writing Month in November, you're probably not a writer.
So writers, have you participated in NaNoWriMo before? If so, tell us about your experience. Are you going to do it this year? Why or why not?
I've decided to give it a try. Since my current WIP, which I'm finally wrapping up, took two years to write, I need to try a focused program and see how fast I could work if I put my mind to it. I figure if I lay in a good supply of coffee and chocolate, and restrict my To Do List to high priority items, I can do it.
Last year I had decided to give it a try and then chickened out before I'd even signed up at the NaNoWriMo website. This year I think I can, I think I can...
Great News From Kerrie Flanagan, Director of Northern Colorado Writers
Congratulations to Kerrie who has an article on marketing published in the front of Writer's Market 2012. That's a wonderful accomplishment, Kerrie.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Chiseled in Rock Tuesday: Characters who take control of your novel
I'm over at Chiseled in Rock today with a post about how my characters tried to wrest control of my novel away from me and totally messed up my plot.
By the way, if you live in the U.S., there's still time to get yourself in the running for the two writers' market books Northern Colorado Writers is giving away on their Facebook page. All you need to do to enter is answer the Friday question posted on August 12th.
By the way, if you live in the U.S., there's still time to get yourself in the running for the two writers' market books Northern Colorado Writers is giving away on their Facebook page. All you need to do to enter is answer the Friday question posted on August 12th.
Monday, August 15, 2011
The Post That Almost Was...But Isn't
I spent about an hour at New West Fest in Fort Collins (CO) yesterday morning. I'd planned to take my camera, but didn't. I'd planned to post fun photos in today's post, but can't. The main thing I got from the excursion was a good walk, a small cup of cookie dough gelato from the Gelazzi cart, and a tiny jar of honey-sweetened mint chocolate sauce.
I skipped my planned visit to the Farmer's Market and stopped in to check out the three-day sale at Whole Foods. That was a good decision. Lots of things were on sale so I bought lots of things.
After writing this blog post and one for Tuesday, I worked in the kitchen. I blanched several ears of corn, cut the corn off the cobs, and froze it. I salvaged the rest of the big sweet cherries I had in the refrigerator by removing the pits and cutting them up to use in homemade frozen yogurt.
And I cleaned out the refrigerator.
Yay me!
See you tomorrow for Chiseled in Rock Tuesday where I caution authors against letting characters have too much control over the plot.
I skipped my planned visit to the Farmer's Market and stopped in to check out the three-day sale at Whole Foods. That was a good decision. Lots of things were on sale so I bought lots of things.
After writing this blog post and one for Tuesday, I worked in the kitchen. I blanched several ears of corn, cut the corn off the cobs, and froze it. I salvaged the rest of the big sweet cherries I had in the refrigerator by removing the pits and cutting them up to use in homemade frozen yogurt.
And I cleaned out the refrigerator.
Yay me!
See you tomorrow for Chiseled in Rock Tuesday where I caution authors against letting characters have too much control over the plot.
Friday, August 12, 2011
We'll Call This One a Special Friday Scramble
Writing Book Giveaway at Northern Colorado Writers Facebook Page
The two books we'll be giving away to one lucky writer in the U.S. (because the books are kinda heavy for international mail) on the NCW Facebook page are:
2011 Novel and Short Story Writer's Market
2011 Christian Writer's Market Guide
All you need to do is log on to your Facebook account, find the Northern Colorado Writers page, and leave your answer to the Friday question in a comment. And while you're there, would you be so kind as to "Like" our Facebook page?
New West Fest in Fort Collins, Colorado This Weekend
This outstanding annual event kicks off with concerts at multiple venues on Friday evening and continues throughout the weekend. Food and a beer park, music, and a gazillion booths on several streets with everything from artwork to mosquito repellant.
I'm making time on Sunday morning to go down early, before the heat and the crowds get too bad. This time I'm going to remember my camera. I'll be on the hunt for photos to make you laugh. Wish me luck.
The (Not So) Dreaded Synopsis - 5 Tips To Set You Free
This post is at Roni Loren's Writing Blog: Fiction Groupie--Pantsing My Way Through Debut Authorhood. Many thanks to a tweet from mystery author Elizabeth S. Craig (@elizabethscraig) for pointing the way.
Today and Tomorrow
Two big writing/rewriting/revising days in a row. I'm off to work.
The two books we'll be giving away to one lucky writer in the U.S. (because the books are kinda heavy for international mail) on the NCW Facebook page are:
2011 Novel and Short Story Writer's Market
2011 Christian Writer's Market Guide
All you need to do is log on to your Facebook account, find the Northern Colorado Writers page, and leave your answer to the Friday question in a comment. And while you're there, would you be so kind as to "Like" our Facebook page?
New West Fest in Fort Collins, Colorado This Weekend
This outstanding annual event kicks off with concerts at multiple venues on Friday evening and continues throughout the weekend. Food and a beer park, music, and a gazillion booths on several streets with everything from artwork to mosquito repellant.
I'm making time on Sunday morning to go down early, before the heat and the crowds get too bad. This time I'm going to remember my camera. I'll be on the hunt for photos to make you laugh. Wish me luck.
The (Not So) Dreaded Synopsis - 5 Tips To Set You Free
This post is at Roni Loren's Writing Blog: Fiction Groupie--Pantsing My Way Through Debut Authorhood. Many thanks to a tweet from mystery author Elizabeth S. Craig (@elizabethscraig) for pointing the way.
Today and Tomorrow
Two big writing/rewriting/revising days in a row. I'm off to work.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Humorous Mysteries by June Shaw, Guest Blogger
Today I'd like to introduce June Shaw, another mystery author from the Five Star/Cengage family. Since many of us exchange news and information on a Five Star Author Yahoo! Group, I get the chance to learn about new mystery releases way before they happen. Whenever possible, I recruit these authors to guest here because the writers are really nice people and the novels are consistently well-plotted.
Deadly Reunion, for instance, takes place on an Alaskan cruise where widow Cealie Gunther is attending a class reunion. I'm already hooked, and that's even before the bodies start showing up. I'll let June tell you a little more about why she mixes humor with murder.
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Humorous Mysteries by June Shaw, Guest Blogger
When I began writing, I wasn’t sure what type of novel I liked best.
But I didn’t start with novels. Who had time to read any of them or try to write them? Maybe lots of folks did, but not me. I’d given birth to five children in six years. They wanted me to do weird things like fix food for them and drive them places. Oh, and then they wanted clothes, too—underwear and shoes and that’s just for starters.
After a while it got too strange to have the oldest complain because he couldn’t find me in a clothing store unless he looked under the racks and recognized my shoes. Hm, of course that was after he was almost a teen. I reached a height of five feet when I was a teen, and that height was good enough—except for shopping with my oldest son.
My kids needed to go to the dentist and some of them to the orthodontist. And then there were those few doctor visits, what with the flu and broken nose (twice—same kid—oldest daughter) and that time Scott was really tired before we flew home from a trip. He was definitely one who never kept still, but on this day, he didn’t want to move and we didn’t really believe he was so exhausted. At home the next morning, he couldn’t sit up in his bed or hold a spoon. He had developed a rare and thankfully not too serious, case of scarlet fever.
And some of my kids needed trips for tubes in the ears and braces and such.
And when I have a minute or two for thoughts of what I might want to write during that time, another kid said, “Ma, I need….”
So why do I write humorous mysteries?
Okay, I NEEDED humor. Mysteries were kind of fun, too.
Romance seems to be the most popular fiction genre, and mysteries usually come next. What about combining both in the same books? I wondered, also deciding I needed that humor since I need to have fun.
It’s what I like to read, thus what I like to write. I love to laugh. So the third book in my series of humorous romantic mysteries can be ordered now. Most readers say the books are fun. Women want to be my main character. (So do I; she’s my idol; she’ll say or do anything she pleases. Love that!)
And most women want me to make sure to keep my main character’s hunky lover, Gil Thurman. (Oh, yes, I also want him!) He is the man the widowed heroine keeps trying to avoid while she tries to rediscover herself, but he opens Cajun restaurants wherever she travels—and she is so bad at avoiding tempting dishes and men.
In this book she joins high school classmates she hasn’t seen in decades for a class reunion aboard a cruise ship in Alaska. People she thought she knew well in school seem to hide secrets and lies—and since it’s a mystery, some people must die. Of course her hunky dude has to show up and cause her more strife and temptation—and there’s humor and laughter. All in all, it’s a fun sexy read placed in a whodunit.
What about you? What do you like to read the most? Romance? Mystery? Humor?
They’re all in my books Relative Danger and Killer Cousins (now available as e-books) and Deadly Reunion. I hope you will and that you’ll let me know how you like them and about other humorous romantic mysteries you enjoy!
-------------------------
Thanks so much for being here today, June. I hope you'll be back when your next Cealie Gunther mystery is published.
To learn more about June and her cozy mystery series, visit her website, June Shaw: Mystery with a Cajun flair...
Deadly Reunion, for instance, takes place on an Alaskan cruise where widow Cealie Gunther is attending a class reunion. I'm already hooked, and that's even before the bodies start showing up. I'll let June tell you a little more about why she mixes humor with murder.
-------------------------
Humorous Mysteries by June Shaw, Guest Blogger
When I began writing, I wasn’t sure what type of novel I liked best.
But I didn’t start with novels. Who had time to read any of them or try to write them? Maybe lots of folks did, but not me. I’d given birth to five children in six years. They wanted me to do weird things like fix food for them and drive them places. Oh, and then they wanted clothes, too—underwear and shoes and that’s just for starters.
After a while it got too strange to have the oldest complain because he couldn’t find me in a clothing store unless he looked under the racks and recognized my shoes. Hm, of course that was after he was almost a teen. I reached a height of five feet when I was a teen, and that height was good enough—except for shopping with my oldest son.
My kids needed to go to the dentist and some of them to the orthodontist. And then there were those few doctor visits, what with the flu and broken nose (twice—same kid—oldest daughter) and that time Scott was really tired before we flew home from a trip. He was definitely one who never kept still, but on this day, he didn’t want to move and we didn’t really believe he was so exhausted. At home the next morning, he couldn’t sit up in his bed or hold a spoon. He had developed a rare and thankfully not too serious, case of scarlet fever.
And some of my kids needed trips for tubes in the ears and braces and such.
And when I have a minute or two for thoughts of what I might want to write during that time, another kid said, “Ma, I need….”
So why do I write humorous mysteries?
Okay, I NEEDED humor. Mysteries were kind of fun, too.
Romance seems to be the most popular fiction genre, and mysteries usually come next. What about combining both in the same books? I wondered, also deciding I needed that humor since I need to have fun.
It’s what I like to read, thus what I like to write. I love to laugh. So the third book in my series of humorous romantic mysteries can be ordered now. Most readers say the books are fun. Women want to be my main character. (So do I; she’s my idol; she’ll say or do anything she pleases. Love that!)
And most women want me to make sure to keep my main character’s hunky lover, Gil Thurman. (Oh, yes, I also want him!) He is the man the widowed heroine keeps trying to avoid while she tries to rediscover herself, but he opens Cajun restaurants wherever she travels—and she is so bad at avoiding tempting dishes and men.
In this book she joins high school classmates she hasn’t seen in decades for a class reunion aboard a cruise ship in Alaska. People she thought she knew well in school seem to hide secrets and lies—and since it’s a mystery, some people must die. Of course her hunky dude has to show up and cause her more strife and temptation—and there’s humor and laughter. All in all, it’s a fun sexy read placed in a whodunit.
What about you? What do you like to read the most? Romance? Mystery? Humor?
They’re all in my books Relative Danger and Killer Cousins (now available as e-books) and Deadly Reunion. I hope you will and that you’ll let me know how you like them and about other humorous romantic mysteries you enjoy!
-------------------------
Thanks so much for being here today, June. I hope you'll be back when your next Cealie Gunther mystery is published.
To learn more about June and her cozy mystery series, visit her website, June Shaw: Mystery with a Cajun flair...
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Wednesday Scramble
Tomorrow's Guest
June Shaw will be here to talk about humorous mysteries and to promote her new mystery release, Deadly Reunion. I hope you'll join us.
September 2011 Blog Book Tours Class
Dani Greer is giving this great online class again, and this time it's free. Here's what she says:
You'll receive a response to your registration closer to the class start date of September 5th.
For blog book tour tips and other bloggie information, visit the Blog Book Tours blog.
The Ledge
When Jim Davidson and his friend Mike Price climbed Mt. Ranier in 1992, it was the adventure of their lives...until Jim slid into a deep crevasse in the ice and pulled Mike in behind him. Mike did not survive the fall.
The Ledge tells the hair-raising story of how Jim made it out alive. If you watch the "I Shouldn't Be Alive" series on Animal Planet, you'll remember the story from the segment called "Killer Crevasse."
This book by Northern Colorado Writers member Jim Davidson and his journalist co-author Kevin Vaughan is getting great reviews.
My Next 30-Day Challenge
Yay! I successfully completed my first 30-day challenge . . . as long as you don't count the four extra biscotti I consumed in place of the scones I gave up.
My next 30-day challenge starts today (and will end on the first day of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference). This one says I need to spend a minimum of 30 minutes every single day of the week toward cleaning and sprucing up my office. Wish me luck. I've been trying to find the time to do this for months.
What I'm Reading
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough. This is the story of the many Americans who traveled to Paris during the period 1830 to 1900 and how their travels affected their lives. From authors to painters to medical students to statesmen, the names are familiar and the stories fascinating.
June Shaw will be here to talk about humorous mysteries and to promote her new mystery release, Deadly Reunion. I hope you'll join us.
September 2011 Blog Book Tours Class
Dani Greer is giving this great online class again, and this time it's free. Here's what she says:
"It looks like the drill sergeant has a job to do for the month of September. We have enough people for a class, and there's still room to invite friends who have a published book they need to promote. Have them sign up for this one-month-long boot camp! We start on September 5th. I'll post what we're covering in the next post, but one thing I'd like to mention that's important:
You must have a blog and know how to use it. We don't actually teach you the ins and outs of blogging. There are plenty of how-tos online for the different blogging platforms. Just Google. We will critique a few blogs and rearrange and add elements to make your blogs more use-friendly. Once you know what a good blog looks like, you'll be prepared to find good blogs to host tour stops. Makes sense, right?
Okay, go sign up!"
You'll receive a response to your registration closer to the class start date of September 5th.
For blog book tour tips and other bloggie information, visit the Blog Book Tours blog.
The Ledge
When Jim Davidson and his friend Mike Price climbed Mt. Ranier in 1992, it was the adventure of their lives...until Jim slid into a deep crevasse in the ice and pulled Mike in behind him. Mike did not survive the fall.
The Ledge tells the hair-raising story of how Jim made it out alive. If you watch the "I Shouldn't Be Alive" series on Animal Planet, you'll remember the story from the segment called "Killer Crevasse."
This book by Northern Colorado Writers member Jim Davidson and his journalist co-author Kevin Vaughan is getting great reviews.
My Next 30-Day Challenge
Yay! I successfully completed my first 30-day challenge . . . as long as you don't count the four extra biscotti I consumed in place of the scones I gave up.
My next 30-day challenge starts today (and will end on the first day of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference). This one says I need to spend a minimum of 30 minutes every single day of the week toward cleaning and sprucing up my office. Wish me luck. I've been trying to find the time to do this for months.
What I'm Reading
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough. This is the story of the many Americans who traveled to Paris during the period 1830 to 1900 and how their travels affected their lives. From authors to painters to medical students to statesmen, the names are familiar and the stories fascinating.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Chiseled in Rock Tuesday: The Cat Who Loves Bookcases
I have a mini-post at Chiseled in Rock today. This one features photos of Katie Kitten who loves bookcases a lot more than she likes books.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Monday, Monday: A Writing Day
Well, technically it will be a revising day. Dear hubby is off to Estes Park to play bridge today, so he'll be gone about eight hours. And since he'll have the car, I can't sneak off to run umpteen dozen errands or procrastinate in other out-of-the- house ways.
The only chore I have to do is the laundry which mostly happens by itself with only a little loading, unloading and folding to do during work breaks. And since tonight I'll be attending a class at the Northern Colorado Writers Studio on "Save, Share & Create with Photos on Shutterfly," it will be big salad night in the Stoltey household. Minimal preparation and very little cleanup makes more time at the computer.
I'm still working on revisions for Dead Wrong, the novel I'll be pitching at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference next month. I'm making more changes to the plot than originally planned, so I've divided the revision project into three parts.
First, I'm going through all of my critique group's comments and making changes where the suggestions work with my new plot. During this phase, I'm also rewriting the scenes that no longer work.
Second, I'll go back to the beginning and read through the chapters for plot errors and obvious problems with pacing. During this stage, I'll do my chapter outline as a timeline and sequence check. That chapter outline is useful later when writing the synopsis.
Third, I'll print out the manuscript and begin my own step-by-step self-editing process. At least twice during this phase I'll read the manuscript out loud.
I have thirty days to finish the job since I want the manuscript ready to submit when I attend the conference.
So I'm off to work, heigh-ho, heigh-ho. See you tomorrow.
The only chore I have to do is the laundry which mostly happens by itself with only a little loading, unloading and folding to do during work breaks. And since tonight I'll be attending a class at the Northern Colorado Writers Studio on "Save, Share & Create with Photos on Shutterfly," it will be big salad night in the Stoltey household. Minimal preparation and very little cleanup makes more time at the computer.
I'm still working on revisions for Dead Wrong, the novel I'll be pitching at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference next month. I'm making more changes to the plot than originally planned, so I've divided the revision project into three parts.
First, I'm going through all of my critique group's comments and making changes where the suggestions work with my new plot. During this phase, I'm also rewriting the scenes that no longer work.
Second, I'll go back to the beginning and read through the chapters for plot errors and obvious problems with pacing. During this stage, I'll do my chapter outline as a timeline and sequence check. That chapter outline is useful later when writing the synopsis.
Third, I'll print out the manuscript and begin my own step-by-step self-editing process. At least twice during this phase I'll read the manuscript out loud.
I have thirty days to finish the job since I want the manuscript ready to submit when I attend the conference.
So I'm off to work, heigh-ho, heigh-ho. See you tomorrow.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Ten Things I Still Love
Back in May of 2009 I wrote this post called Ten Things I Love. I've reprinted the basics here with an update. I still love all ten, but some for different reasons.
1. Wednesdays. I love Wednesdays. I think it's because I associate that day with pleasant things. For instance, I schedule my monthly massage on a Wednesday. And another thing, I never have to cook dinner on a Wednesday because my husband grabs a sandwich before he leaves to play bridge. On Wednesdays, I know I still have three more days to accomplish great things before the week is gone and lost forever.
Nothing has changed here. I still love Wednesdays for all the same reasons.
2. My monthly massage. I used to get a sixty-minute massage. That expanded to seventy-five. Now I'm up to ninety minutes. Not only is it relaxing, but it helps relieve the aches and pains that result from too many hours at the computer.
I've dropped back to a regular seventy-five minutes, but sometimes (like around the holidays or my birthday) I schedule two massages in one month. I'm such a glutton for pleasure.
3. Television. I'm one of those strange people who love TV and isn't afraid to admit it. I enjoy Survivor and American Idol and Amazing Race and Dancing With the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance and Big Brother. My favorite dramas are 24 and The Mentalist and Medium and Grey's Anatomy and Brothers and Sisters. I love Desperate Housewives.
I still love television, but 24 and Medium are gone. I was into some new cop shows last season but half of those were cancelled. Newer favorites are Memphis Beat with Jason Lee (from My Name is Earl) and another is Combat Hospital. And the new season of Anthony Bourdain "No Reservations" has begun. Love that one.
4. Pumpkin scones from Starbucks. The calories don't count, because I eat it with a venti nonfat latte. I only have the scone once a month. It can't hurt me.
I'm sure I still love these scones, but I went on a 30-day no scone challenge that won't be over until August 10th. So far, so good. Now I crave biscotti instead of scones. :)
5. Plain nonfat yogurt and frozen blueberries sprinkled with granola (preferably a low fat and very crunchy granola). I have this for lunch almost every day.
I still love this concoction but haven't had it lately. Now that I've been reminded, I think I'll have it for lunch. Or maybe I'll skip the granola and mix a blueberry-yogurt smoothie in the blender. It's going to be hot today, so that should be a cool and tasty treat.
6. Movies. I haven't been to a movie in a theater in ages. I use Netflix. But I've had the urge to see a big screen showing lately, so I'm trying to decide between Star Trek and Angels and Demons. I even tossed out the question on Twitter this morning. Which one should I see? Kerrie Flanagan of Northern Colorado Writers blogged about Angels and Demons in The Writing Bug and gave it a thumbs down. Anyone else?
I still get Netflix and am watching the mini-series Rome. I also watched Fair Game which was pretty interesting. I'm still thinking about this new pricing scheme and whether I need to cut something out or not. So far I still get three DVDs and access to a whole list of instant movies I can access through my television set or computer. The last movie I saw in a theater was at the end of last year -- the True Grit remake.
7. Reading, especially mysteries from my favorite authors. I'll name Craig Johnson and William Kent Krueger here, but my list of preferred mystery writers is about ten miles long.
The list is now eleven miles long.
8. Chocolate. I like Lindt 85% cocoa dark chocolate. I can't keep it in the house all the time because...well, you know.
I do keep a stash in the house all the time now but restrict myself to one square of chocolate a day. Yesterday at Walgreens they had both the 85% and the 90% on sale so I bought six bars. That ought to hold me for a few weeks.
9. Wine. Hogue Gewurztraminer is my favorite white.
Still true.
10. Farmer's Markets. I'm delighted it's market season again. I usually visit one market on Saturday morning and another one on Sunday afternoon. I stroll the circuit of booths at least twice, once to survey and once to buy. The highlight of the season: peaches from Colorado's western slope.
Also still true. This weekend I'm on a mission to price honey by the pound (because I want to try making mead) and to locate chocolate peanut butter (so I can try that ice cream recipe from Foodie Road Show I linked to earlier in the week).
It seems quite a few things I love are edible. I can live with that. I can still live with that.
1. Wednesdays. I love Wednesdays. I think it's because I associate that day with pleasant things. For instance, I schedule my monthly massage on a Wednesday. And another thing, I never have to cook dinner on a Wednesday because my husband grabs a sandwich before he leaves to play bridge. On Wednesdays, I know I still have three more days to accomplish great things before the week is gone and lost forever.
Nothing has changed here. I still love Wednesdays for all the same reasons.
2. My monthly massage. I used to get a sixty-minute massage. That expanded to seventy-five. Now I'm up to ninety minutes. Not only is it relaxing, but it helps relieve the aches and pains that result from too many hours at the computer.
I've dropped back to a regular seventy-five minutes, but sometimes (like around the holidays or my birthday) I schedule two massages in one month. I'm such a glutton for pleasure.
3. Television. I'm one of those strange people who love TV and isn't afraid to admit it. I enjoy Survivor and American Idol and Amazing Race and Dancing With the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance and Big Brother. My favorite dramas are 24 and The Mentalist and Medium and Grey's Anatomy and Brothers and Sisters. I love Desperate Housewives.
I still love television, but 24 and Medium are gone. I was into some new cop shows last season but half of those were cancelled. Newer favorites are Memphis Beat with Jason Lee (from My Name is Earl) and another is Combat Hospital. And the new season of Anthony Bourdain "No Reservations" has begun. Love that one.
4. Pumpkin scones from Starbucks. The calories don't count, because I eat it with a venti nonfat latte. I only have the scone once a month. It can't hurt me.
I'm sure I still love these scones, but I went on a 30-day no scone challenge that won't be over until August 10th. So far, so good. Now I crave biscotti instead of scones. :)
5. Plain nonfat yogurt and frozen blueberries sprinkled with granola (preferably a low fat and very crunchy granola). I have this for lunch almost every day.
I still love this concoction but haven't had it lately. Now that I've been reminded, I think I'll have it for lunch. Or maybe I'll skip the granola and mix a blueberry-yogurt smoothie in the blender. It's going to be hot today, so that should be a cool and tasty treat.
6. Movies. I haven't been to a movie in a theater in ages. I use Netflix. But I've had the urge to see a big screen showing lately, so I'm trying to decide between Star Trek and Angels and Demons. I even tossed out the question on Twitter this morning. Which one should I see? Kerrie Flanagan of Northern Colorado Writers blogged about Angels and Demons in The Writing Bug and gave it a thumbs down. Anyone else?
I still get Netflix and am watching the mini-series Rome. I also watched Fair Game which was pretty interesting. I'm still thinking about this new pricing scheme and whether I need to cut something out or not. So far I still get three DVDs and access to a whole list of instant movies I can access through my television set or computer. The last movie I saw in a theater was at the end of last year -- the True Grit remake.
7. Reading, especially mysteries from my favorite authors. I'll name Craig Johnson and William Kent Krueger here, but my list of preferred mystery writers is about ten miles long.
The list is now eleven miles long.
8. Chocolate. I like Lindt 85% cocoa dark chocolate. I can't keep it in the house all the time because...well, you know.
I do keep a stash in the house all the time now but restrict myself to one square of chocolate a day. Yesterday at Walgreens they had both the 85% and the 90% on sale so I bought six bars. That ought to hold me for a few weeks.
9. Wine. Hogue Gewurztraminer is my favorite white.
Still true.
10. Farmer's Markets. I'm delighted it's market season again. I usually visit one market on Saturday morning and another one on Sunday afternoon. I stroll the circuit of booths at least twice, once to survey and once to buy. The highlight of the season: peaches from Colorado's western slope.
Also still true. This weekend I'm on a mission to price honey by the pound (because I want to try making mead) and to locate chocolate peanut butter (so I can try that ice cream recipe from Foodie Road Show I linked to earlier in the week).
It seems quite a few things I love are edible. I can live with that. I can still live with that.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Gifting Readers With a Sense of Fun by Laura DiSilverio, Guest Blogger
Since I'm on a mystery reading kick these days, I especially enjoy introducing our Colorado mystery authors and their new releases. Laura is one of those Coloradoans, and she's currently making the rounds on her virtual book tour for Die Buying. You can find her schedule for her blog appearances on her website.
Don't miss the note below this post. Laura will be donating the profits from this book to a very special cause.
-------------------------
Gifting Readers With a Sense of Fun by Laura DiSilverio, Guest Blogger
I had a health scare this spring, the kind where you wonder if you’re going to be around to see your children graduate from high school. Thankfully, surgery fixed everything and I’m back to my usual activities and my normal energy levels (although I’m still trying to knock off the last couple of pounds that crept up while I couldn’t work out for almost three months). Anyway, my point is that the scare made me stop and think, about a lot of things, actually, but especially about my writing. Specifically, it made me evaluate what I’m writing.
For a couple months during the crisis and after the surgery, I had a heightened sense of mortality, of the very, very brief time we all get on this planet. I felt like I needed to say all the important things I have to say right now, that I needed to abandon writing my cozy, humorous series and write things that were darker, more literary, more “forever,” more profound. I was stressing myself out because I enjoy writing my Swift Investigations series and my Mall Cop books, but I thought I should be doing something more “meaningful.” I suspect many of us come up against that kind of self-evaluation, maybe as a result of a life change—marriage, divorce, empty nest—or because of a significant emotional experience of some kind.
Then, a couple weeks ago, I spoke to a book club, the Silver Sneakers group at the Pueblo YMCA and one of the women said, “You know, part-way through Swift Justice, I realized I was having fun reading this book. I can’t remember the last time I had fun reading a book.” It was a casual comment to her, but it meant a lot to me. Making someone happy, making readers laugh, gifting them with a sense of fun, if only for the few hours it takes to read a book, is meaningful. It’s worthwhile. We all cope with a lot of ugliness in the course of our daily lives (especially if we read a newspaper or watch the news) and it’s healthy and good to escape that once in a while, to listen to music that takes us away, or to watch a movie or read a book that makes us laugh, to sit on the deck with a glass of wine in the evening and think about nothing much except how pretty the begonias are or how amazing hummingbirds are as they fight for dominion at the feeder.
All of which is not to say that I won’t ever write something besides mysteries. I have more storylines and ideas and thoughts to express than I could get on paper in a dozen lifetimes. But, for now, I’m happy with where I’m at and what I’m doing. I hope you are, too.
-------------------------
Laura DiSilverio is donating the profits from her first Mall Cop book, Die Buying, to the Wounded Warrior Project because her protagonist, EJ Ferris, was medically retired from the military after an IED shredded her knee in Afghanistan, and because Laura and her hubby are both veterans grateful for the service of others.
You may “Like” Laura on Facebook or visit her website at laura.disilverio. Find her very interesting bio on the website as well.
Don't miss the note below this post. Laura will be donating the profits from this book to a very special cause.
-------------------------
Gifting Readers With a Sense of Fun by Laura DiSilverio, Guest Blogger
I had a health scare this spring, the kind where you wonder if you’re going to be around to see your children graduate from high school. Thankfully, surgery fixed everything and I’m back to my usual activities and my normal energy levels (although I’m still trying to knock off the last couple of pounds that crept up while I couldn’t work out for almost three months). Anyway, my point is that the scare made me stop and think, about a lot of things, actually, but especially about my writing. Specifically, it made me evaluate what I’m writing.For a couple months during the crisis and after the surgery, I had a heightened sense of mortality, of the very, very brief time we all get on this planet. I felt like I needed to say all the important things I have to say right now, that I needed to abandon writing my cozy, humorous series and write things that were darker, more literary, more “forever,” more profound. I was stressing myself out because I enjoy writing my Swift Investigations series and my Mall Cop books, but I thought I should be doing something more “meaningful.” I suspect many of us come up against that kind of self-evaluation, maybe as a result of a life change—marriage, divorce, empty nest—or because of a significant emotional experience of some kind.
Then, a couple weeks ago, I spoke to a book club, the Silver Sneakers group at the Pueblo YMCA and one of the women said, “You know, part-way through Swift Justice, I realized I was having fun reading this book. I can’t remember the last time I had fun reading a book.” It was a casual comment to her, but it meant a lot to me. Making someone happy, making readers laugh, gifting them with a sense of fun, if only for the few hours it takes to read a book, is meaningful. It’s worthwhile. We all cope with a lot of ugliness in the course of our daily lives (especially if we read a newspaper or watch the news) and it’s healthy and good to escape that once in a while, to listen to music that takes us away, or to watch a movie or read a book that makes us laugh, to sit on the deck with a glass of wine in the evening and think about nothing much except how pretty the begonias are or how amazing hummingbirds are as they fight for dominion at the feeder.All of which is not to say that I won’t ever write something besides mysteries. I have more storylines and ideas and thoughts to express than I could get on paper in a dozen lifetimes. But, for now, I’m happy with where I’m at and what I’m doing. I hope you are, too.
-------------------------
Laura DiSilverio is donating the profits from her first Mall Cop book, Die Buying, to the Wounded Warrior Project because her protagonist, EJ Ferris, was medically retired from the military after an IED shredded her knee in Afghanistan, and because Laura and her hubby are both veterans grateful for the service of others.
You may “Like” Laura on Facebook or visit her website at laura.disilverio. Find her very interesting bio on the website as well.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Wednesday Scramble
Tomorrow's Guest
Laura DiSilverio is on her virtual book tour for the first mystery in the Mall Cop series, Die Buying. She will be my guest tomorrow, so I hope you'll join us and see what Laura has to say about a writer's purpose in life.
The Cosy Knave
Dorte Hummelshøj Jakobsen’s novel The Cosy Knave has just been released as an ebook on Smashwords and for Kindle. Other e-reader versions are coming soon.
Those of you who follow Dorte's blog, djskrimiblog, are already aware, but if this Danish teacher and mystery writer is not already on your radar, you might want to check her out (and her book launch relay race as well). I love her book's cover art so much I'm posting it here:
Rachelle Gardner's blog
Literary agent Rachelle Gardner has more how-tos posted on her blog this week. Check out How to Write a Query Letter and How to Market Your Book.
The marketing post is WordServe's first Parade of Blogs where the agency asks its clients to write a on a given topic and then Rachelle provides the links on her own blog. I really liked finding this list of writerly blogs (not to mention the chance to discover new books for my TBR stacks--as if I didn't have enough unread books in my house and on my Kindle already).
Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt
I still have yummy frozen concoctions on the brain, so when I spotted this recipe for Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream at Angela's Foodie Road Show, I had to check it out. I already have the coconut milk but now I'm on the hunt for chocolate peanut butter. I think our Saturday morning Farmer's Market usually has a stall featuring homemade peanut butters, so I plan to try there first.
Since I'm not a vegan, I may have to try the chocolate peanut butter in a frozen yogurt as well. If it doesn't set up well, I can always drink the mixture like a smoothie.
What I'm Reading
Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. This one is sandwiched between Sophie Littlefield's latest Stella Hardesty mystery, A Bad Day for Scandal, and Sandra Balzo's first Main Street mystery, Running on Empty.
And Finally, Nathan Bransford's Words of Wisdom
Here is his "The Solution for Every Writing Problem That Has Ever Existed."
Laura DiSilverio is on her virtual book tour for the first mystery in the Mall Cop series, Die Buying. She will be my guest tomorrow, so I hope you'll join us and see what Laura has to say about a writer's purpose in life.
The Cosy Knave
Dorte Hummelshøj Jakobsen’s novel The Cosy Knave has just been released as an ebook on Smashwords and for Kindle. Other e-reader versions are coming soon.
Those of you who follow Dorte's blog, djskrimiblog, are already aware, but if this Danish teacher and mystery writer is not already on your radar, you might want to check her out (and her book launch relay race as well). I love her book's cover art so much I'm posting it here:
Rachelle Gardner's blog
Literary agent Rachelle Gardner has more how-tos posted on her blog this week. Check out How to Write a Query Letter and How to Market Your Book.
The marketing post is WordServe's first Parade of Blogs where the agency asks its clients to write a on a given topic and then Rachelle provides the links on her own blog. I really liked finding this list of writerly blogs (not to mention the chance to discover new books for my TBR stacks--as if I didn't have enough unread books in my house and on my Kindle already).
Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt
I still have yummy frozen concoctions on the brain, so when I spotted this recipe for Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream at Angela's Foodie Road Show, I had to check it out. I already have the coconut milk but now I'm on the hunt for chocolate peanut butter. I think our Saturday morning Farmer's Market usually has a stall featuring homemade peanut butters, so I plan to try there first.
Since I'm not a vegan, I may have to try the chocolate peanut butter in a frozen yogurt as well. If it doesn't set up well, I can always drink the mixture like a smoothie.
What I'm Reading
Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. This one is sandwiched between Sophie Littlefield's latest Stella Hardesty mystery, A Bad Day for Scandal, and Sandra Balzo's first Main Street mystery, Running on Empty.
And Finally, Nathan Bransford's Words of Wisdom
Here is his "The Solution for Every Writing Problem That Has Ever Existed."
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Chiseled in Rock Tuesday: What's New from Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers?
I'm over at Chiseled in Rock today, bringing everyone up-to-date on a few of the new and upcoming releases from members of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. We have a couple of mysteries, one fantasy, and one romance--something for almost everyone. Hope to see you there.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Mead? What the heck is mead?
On Saturday, I attended the book signing and mead tasting for Cricket McRae's newest Home Crafting mystery, Wined and Died. I would have attended the signing anyway, but a mead tasting was definitely an added incentive to head to Old Town Fort Collins on a 90+ degree day.
I parked a few blocks away from the book shop and walked through a rockin' Old Town Plaza where I discovered live music, food carts, lots of people and...Ben & Jerry's. A frozen latte made with coffee ice cream kept me cool while I strolled toward Old Firehouse Books for the 2:00 PM signing. I wasn't sure how a frozen latte would affect the mead tasting, but to be honest, I didn't worry about it too much.
Since I've never tasted mead in my life, actually had no idea what it was or how it was made, I (of course) had to soak it all in...in a manner of speaking.
Mead is a fermented drink made from honey and is sometimes called honey wine. Variations on the original recipe call for ingredients from fruits to herbs. These variations have names, such as Pyment, Braggot, or Rhodomel. I tasted a small sample of each bottle Cricket brought with her (for scientific comparison, of course), but all I remember for sure is that the Pyment was very sweet, like a digestif, and the Braggot contained hops. Other variations were flavored with juniper berries, apricot, or raspberry.
When I got home, I did a little more research on the topic. I found a site called Got Mead which looks like a great place for newbie's to hang out. I've copied the basic recipe for an orange/spice flavored mead in the Newbie's Guide section of the website, just in case I decide to give it a try. Anyone know where I can buy a one-gallon carboy?
I parked a few blocks away from the book shop and walked through a rockin' Old Town Plaza where I discovered live music, food carts, lots of people and...Ben & Jerry's. A frozen latte made with coffee ice cream kept me cool while I strolled toward Old Firehouse Books for the 2:00 PM signing. I wasn't sure how a frozen latte would affect the mead tasting, but to be honest, I didn't worry about it too much.
Since I've never tasted mead in my life, actually had no idea what it was or how it was made, I (of course) had to soak it all in...in a manner of speaking.
Mead is a fermented drink made from honey and is sometimes called honey wine. Variations on the original recipe call for ingredients from fruits to herbs. These variations have names, such as Pyment, Braggot, or Rhodomel. I tasted a small sample of each bottle Cricket brought with her (for scientific comparison, of course), but all I remember for sure is that the Pyment was very sweet, like a digestif, and the Braggot contained hops. Other variations were flavored with juniper berries, apricot, or raspberry.
When I got home, I did a little more research on the topic. I found a site called Got Mead which looks like a great place for newbie's to hang out. I've copied the basic recipe for an orange/spice flavored mead in the Newbie's Guide section of the website, just in case I decide to give it a try. Anyone know where I can buy a one-gallon carboy?
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