DAY 2 - HOLIDAY BLOG TOUR WITH M.M. GORNELL

Good morning Readers,

Today we will hear from the award winning mystery author Madeline (M.M.) Gornell: what inspires her, what she likes best about writing and what she wants her readers to experience while reading her books.

Madeline has published three mysteries: The  PSWA awarding winning novel Uncle Si’s Secret (2008), Death of a Perfect Man (2009), and her latest release, Reticence of Ravens (2010)—her first Route 66 mystery. Reticence of Ravens is a 2011 Eric Hoffer Fiction finalist and Honorary Mention winner, the da Vinci Eye finalist, and a Montaigne Medalist finalist.

I'll bet you'd also be interested in knowing that Madeline is a potter with a fondness for stoneware and reduction firing. She lives with her husband and assorted canines in the Mojave in a town on internationally revered Route 66.

Now I'm turning things over to Madeline.

~~~

Thank you, Jackie, for hosting me on your blog!

Since it’s early days on our tour, and since you’ve graciously let me talk about whatever I want, I thought I’d offer my answers to the three questions I’ve asked all my fellow tour members to answer for my blog. Seems only fair. I picked these three because they were representative of many that come up when I’m talking to readers at events—especially at festivals and fairs.

My questions were:

•  What/who inspires you and your stories?
•  What do you most like about being an author?
• What do you most want readers to take away from your novels--what you want them to think and feel when the last page is read?

Inspiration? My inspiration for writing initially came from—and has been reinforced throughout my life by—all the great mystery authors that have led the way. My earliest memories are of falling in immediate love with Agatha Christie—her style, her plots, her protagonists. She was my rock star! Now, I’m continually inspired and re-energized by P.D. James. (I am an admitted and unashamed anglophile)

For each of my novels, my inspiration and first kernel of an idea has come from a location that has reached out, grabbed me, and wouldn’t let go. That sounds a bit silly, and it’s not the whole story, but truly, so far, I’ve been inspired to start a story because a location said, “Me! Me! Write about me!” From the location, I’ve then wondered—who would have lived there, or come that way? What is their story? And in the case of my first, Uncle Si’s Secret—the compelling thought at a particular place along the Snoqualmie Valley Trail on my dog walks kept returning—“What a perfect spot for a murder!” (Another reason why exercise is good for you)

I don’t just like being an author, there’s nothing else I rather be doing. Truth be told, I certainly could do without the promotions part, but I love developing an idea (usually as I go), creating characters, devising the murder mystery—and surprisingly as my writing adventure moves forward—love rewriting! Making it all come together—my ideas(plot and philosophical), words, phrases, hints, clues… Thank goodness for my great editors! Of the bits-and-pieces that come with writing, I particularly enjoy meeting readers, authors, and especially hearing people say they liked by book(s)!

Reader Wishes? First off, I sure hope they enjoy reading my book and are taken away for a few hours into an interesting world that captivates them—either because it’s so different from theirs, or because they can identify with the characters and locations. Especially with Route 66 and the desert, hoping the “feel” of the place came through.

Then there’s my wish they find themselves in my characters mind (the protagonist’s especially)—feeling and hearing their voice.

My most cherished hope, is that when you close one of my books, there’s a smile on your face, and thoughts, questions, ideas beyond who the murderer was remain with you—at least for awhile.

Jackie, thanks for letting talk about what keeps me going as an author. Thanks so much for the visit!

~~~~

You are so very welcome, Madeline. I've really enjoyed your thoughts on writing and I'm sure our readers have, too. You're welcome on Cozy Mysteries and Other Madness anytime.

Lies of Convenience, Madeline's next Route 66 mystery, will be released soon. It's a tale that fictionally connects murder, truths untold, and Chicago’s Lake Michigan with California’s high desert on the opposite end of The Mother Road.

Madeline’s books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and Smashwords, in paper and e-book formats. You can visit her online at her website http://www.mmgornell.com, or her BLOG http://www.mmgornell.wordpress.com, or email her directly at mmgornell@earthlink.net

Reticence of Ravens is available at:
http://tinyurl.com/3oaaupp

Remember Readers! Our MURDER WE WRITE Holiday Blog Tour Writers are giving away over 50 FREE books. To be eligible for all drawings, visit each blogsite and leave a comment.

I’m giving away signed copy of THE INCONVENIENT CORPSE and another of FOXY STATEHOOD HENS AND MURDER MOST FOWL. To get your name in the hat for my free books, leave a comment below.

And be sure to check in tomorrow to meet a new Mystery Writer.

Hugs,

Jackie

Day 1--HOLIDAY BLOG TOUR WITH TIMOTHY HALLINAN

Hi Readers, are you in a mood to travel? Vicariously, of course and via our Cyber-Bus which is loaded with 15 outstanding mystery writers including me.

This is the 1^st day of our Holiday Mystery Tour, and readers, do I have a treat for you!

Timothy Hallinan, an Edgar and Maccavity nominated author tells us how his latest Junior Bender novel LITTLE ELVISES was conceived and birthed. And what a story his article 'Picture Perfect' tells! Keep reading, because now I'm letting Timothy drive:

Picture Perfect
By Timothy Hallinan

 The most frequent question at bookstore events is, “Where do your ideas come from?”

Well, most of the time, they appear out of thin air.  But once in a great while something from what I try to think of as “real life” prompts a story development.  Here's an example.

Some time ago, my wife and I had the good fortune to make friends with someone whom I'm not going to name, but she had been famous for several decades due to a series of very funny books she'd written for a large audience of women who, like her, hated to cook and do housework.

We had mutual friends, but we met her face-to-face for the first time in Hawaii, when I was on my way to Asia to write and my wife was accompanying me as far as Bali.  What we had feared would be a slightly awkward lunch turned into a prolonged, delightful, and highly lubricated lunner, comprising lunch, dinner, and many, many drinks in between. 

 We were in love with her when we left, and remained so for years and years.

 She was in her early seventies when we met, and more vigorous than either my wife or I, who were in our late forties.  Ten years later, we got a note from her saying she was going to marry.  (Her first husband died before we met her.)  Enclosed were three pictures of her and her husband-to-be.

They scared me silly.

She (let's call her Margaret) was sitting on quite a bit of money; she'd sold a very large number of books.  And she was now in her eighties.  The pictures she'd sent us were Polaroids, and she looked ecstatically happy in all three of them.  I couldn't tell you how happy her fiance looked, because we couldn't see his face.

In any of the pictures.

In the first, he had his head down, and his features were obscured by the bill of his cap.  In the second, he'd turned his head as the shutter snapped, and he was a blur.  In the third, he was kissing Margaret on the cheek and her profile obscured most of his.

I immediately called to congratulate her and to grill her diplomatically about him.  She'd known him forever, she said; he'd been a friend of her husband's and was, in her words, richer than God.  I relaxed and offered an unnecessary blessing, and the two of them lived happily until Margaret passed away.

 But in the nasty, nefarious part of me that makes bad things happen to good (if imaginary) people, those photographs had taken root.  I thought about them almost every time I wrote a book, but the opportunity to use them never came up until my new ebook, LITTLE ELVISES.

LITTLE ELVISES

The hero of LITTLE ELVISES is a Los Angeles burglar named Junior Bender, who moonlights as a private eye—for crooks.  That's a good way to make dangerous enemies, so Junior lives in a succession of dreadful motels in an area—the San Fernando Valley—that's especially rich in dreadful motels.

His first day on his new case has been a bad one; he's just been shot at.  Already unhappy at this turn of events, he becomes even more unhappy when he sees there's a light on in the room adjoining his, which gives him pause, because he's rented it, too.  (An adjoining room can be used as an escape route.) 

But the room's occupant turns out to be Marge, the surviving owner of Marge 'n Ed's North Pole, the motel of the week, and Marge has a problem: her daughter has disappeared after running off with a man of whom Marge instinctively disapproves because he wears a pinkie ring.  Junior tries to fob her off with assurances until:

“Look at these.”  Marge dug into a purse the size of a saddlebag and came out with two color snapshots.  She dealt them at me, giving each of them an expert, Vegas-worthy flick that carried them from one bed to another.  I picked them up and found myself looking at two shots of the same couple.

The female was clearly the issue of Marge's loins, if the pronounced nasal apparatus and the long upper lip were any indication, but the man was a complete mystery.  In one shot, he was shading his eyes from the sun, and he'd tilted his hand down until nothing showed but his mouth, and in the other, he'd turned his head away at the last moment, creating an interesting modern abstract where his face should have been. 

Not good.

Marge said, “Tell me about that.”

“Okay,” I said.  “I'll think about it.”

And he does.

So it took 30 years, but I finally got to use Margaret's Polaroids.  And they lead Junior toward a monster who preys on the lonely and the unhappy.  And, at the end, a big surprise. 

Okay Guys, I'm back in the driver's seat again. I know you're dying to learn more about Timothy, so here's the scoop on him:

Timothy Hallinan is the Edgar- and Macavity-nominated author of the traditionally-published Poke Rafferty Bangkok thrillers (most recently THE QUEEN OF PATPONG), and the Junior Bender mysteries, which are ebook originals.  The newest Junior book is LITTLE ELVISES.  Earlier this year, Hallinan conceived and edited a volume of original short stories by twenty first-rate mystery writers, SHAKEN: STORIES FOR JAPAN, which is available for the Kindle at $3.99, with every penny of the price going to the 2011 Japan Relief Fund.  (Please buy it.)  He lives in Santa Monica and Southeast Asia, and he is lucky enough to be married to Munyin Choy.  His website is www.timothyhallinan.com.

~~~

Thanks a million Timothy for this fascinating story. Of course we're all dying to know who 'Margaret' was, but then again we all love solving mysteries.

Timothy will give away a set of his Poke Rafferty Bankgkok thrillers at the end of our Holiday Tour. To get your name in the hat for the drawing, make a comment on each of the 15 participating blogsites. Our group is giving away more than 50 books during the 2-week period.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by, and please leave a comment. You'll be glad, because, besides the other author's books, you'll be in a pool to win a copy of THE INCONVENIENT CORPSE or STATEHOOD HENS AND MURDER MOST FOWL.

See you tomorrow!

Hugs,

Jackie

MYSTERY WE WRITE BLOG TOUR STARTS TOMORROW!

TIMOTHY HALLINAN WILL BE MY GUEST BLOGGER!

Timothy Hallinan

Timothy Hallinan is the Edgar and Macavity-nominated author of the traditionally-published Poke Rafferty Bangkok thrillers (most recently THE QUEEN OF PATPONG), and the Junior Bender mysteries, which are ebook originals. The newest Junior book is LITTLE ELVISES. His website is www.timothyhallinan.com.

THE QUEEN OF PATPONG

LITTLE EVISES

14 Dynamite Mystery Authors will be on this tour, a different one each day:

November 25 through December 9^th

OVER 60 FREE BOOKS WILL BE GIVEN AWAY BY BY THE TOUR TEAM DURING THE 2-WEEK PERIOD!

Each participating author will be giving away one or more of their books. When you leave a comment on that particular blog, you’ve in the drawing for a book (or more).

Each time you visit COZY MYSTERIES AND OTHER MADNESS during our 14 day tour (November 25 through December 9) your name will go into my fedora hat for a chance to win a signed copy of THE INCONVENIENT CORPSE and THE FOXY STATEHOOD HENS AND MURDER MOST FOWL!

Click on Mystery We Write Holiday Blog Tour listed under my pages for all of the names and websites of our Mystery Writers.

LITTLE ELVISES

Looking forward to seeing you on the tour!

Hugs,

Jackie

WANT TO WIN A FREE BOOK OR TWO?

COMING ON BLACK FRIDAY!

HOLIDAY MYSTERY WE BLOG TOUR Featuring 14 Dynamite Mystery Authors and moi.

November 25 through December 9^th

OVER 50 FREE BOOKS WILL BE GIVEN AWAY BY THIS TEAM DURING THIS 2-WEEK PERIOD!

Each participating author will be giving away one or more of their books. When you leave a comment on that particular blog, you’re in the drawing for a book (or more).

If you visit COZY MYSTERIES AND OTHER MADNESS during our 14 day tour (November 25 through December 9) I’ll put your name in a drawing for a signed copy of THE INCONVENIENT CORPSE and THE FOXY STATEHOOD HENS AND MURDER MOST FOWL!

FOURTEEN DAYS--YOU'LL BE ENTERED 14 TIMES. Each day you visit COZY MYSTERIES AND OTHER MADNESS and leave a comment, your name in the drawing hat. (A fedora, of course.)

I'm looking forward to seeing you on the tour!

Click on MYSTERY WE WRITE BLOG TOUR listed under my pages for the names of the 14 other authors who will be on the tour bus!

Hugs,

Jackie

I DIDN'T FALL OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH

Greetings to all my friends! I’ll bet you all thought that I’d fallen off of the face of the earth. I felt that way myself during the month of September. But no, I’m still on this planet, though feeling a bit dazed. In September I attended Bouchercon 2011 in St. Louis and had a fabulous time. My friend and first reader Judy Rosser did the driving and kept me company. Since I'm a sleepy-head she even had coffee ready when I rolled out of bed in the morning. What a wonderful friend! A big thanks to her husband Gary, for sharing.

Last weekend I attended the RWI, Inc. Writer’s Retreat at Meadowlake Lodge close to Sand Springs, Oklahoma. What a lovely and rustic spot. (This was my kind of roughing-it: air conditioning, microwave, internet service.) Jean Brashear was our speaker and very inspiring. I came home refreshed and eager to get back to my work-in-progress.

My stay at the retreat was cut short by a call to do Grandma Stuff. I couldn’t call this babysitting, because my 13-year-old twins end up taking care of me in one way or another. My grandson is my IT expert.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about an exciting new Mystery We Write Holiday Blog Tour. For two weeks, November 25 to December 9, fourteen top-notch mystery authors and moi will be swapping posts. BIG NEWS: We’ll be giving away lots of FREE books! More about this very soon so stay posted.

Hugs to all,

Jackie

Mystery We Write Blog Tour with Sharon Ervin

We’ve come to the 12^th and final week of our Mystery We Write Blog Tour. For the last three months top notch authors have shared writing tips, personal glimpses into their lives, and fascinating information on how each crafted her stories.

A million thanks to each writer who has shared her life, books and talent with my readers and me. It's been a fun ride and I've learned to admire and love these talented artists.



Sharon Ervin



I first came to know Sharon when we worked together on an anthology CHIK~LIT FOR FOXY HENS. This was my first published work, but Sharon had already been selling for some time. We learned that we shared a love of mystery and all things mysterious.

WHAT IS VOICE?

By Sharon Ervin

A writer’s voice is her writing style.

Individual writers have a rhythm, a cadence. Some are jolting, startling, stimulating. Others lull and are recommended as bedtime reads.

Currently, I enjoy books by David McCullough. His voice works for me, and for millions of others. Also, I love Dorothy Sayers mysteries, written in the 1930s. Her cadence and her word choices massage my brain. Oddly, when I refer others to these two great, very different writers, their work does not appeal to everyone. What is that about? I came up with an analogy to explain differences in voice.

Imagine you are the passenger in a large luxury car traveling with friends along a smooth interstate highway. The car is the story’s plot, expansive, comfortable. The friends are the story’s characters. The roadway is the voice, smooth, rhythmic.

The car turns onto a rutted gravel road. You brace yourself, resisting the bumps and jolts. You are still in the same vehicle with the same charming company, but you are ill-at-ease. The surface (voice) is a rub board that steals the enjoyment from the trip for you. Others in the car either don’t notice or enjoy––are even stimulated–by the rougher ride.

I read a romance novel once by a well-known writer. The premise (plot) was really good, the characters well-developed and compelling. But the writer’s voice lurched, tossing me one way, then another. The story was so good that I slogged through to the end, annoyed with myself and with the author the entire time. Relieved to be finished, I felt as if I had been roughly treated by the erratic voice. But the characters haunted me.

Two weeks later, certain that my disregard for the author had more to do with me and my attitude, I read the book again. It was as ragged as I thought, yet I still loved the plot, the pace and the characters.

Three weeks later, unable to stop thinking about it, I picked up the book again, this time to edit the pages, to mark the awkward places in the jolting text. There was too much.

I stewed some more, then, Eureka! I decided to rewrite the book the way it should have been written in the first place. It didn’t matter if I plagiarized because no one else would see my version. Maybe rewriting would allow me to come to terms and let it go. 

As the story reeled onto the pages, however, it was not a copy of the original, but my own. I gave the motivations more substance and realized the characters’ responses to weak provocation was part of my annoyance. My concerns about plagiarism vanished with the realization that, like writers through history, I had breathed in an idea––a premise––and exhaled a brand new work.

COUNTERFEIT COWBOY became my third published book. I no longer had concerns about similarities. Even the author of the other book would not have seen a resemblance.

COWBOY won fourth place in the First North American Fiction Contest that year. A New York Editor called after she read three chapters thinking it could fill a slot that had suddenly opened up in her schedule. I didn’t believe the manuscript was polished enough for her. Three weeks later, when I thought it was, the slot was filled. COWBOY, however, did get published eventually.

Not long ago, I reread the other book. I still have it, of course. As before, I stumbled along, skimming over the especially tedious places. The author is well-known and well-liked. 

Some readers like my work, too.

The cadence of my own writing voice suits me. The talent, inborn, has been shaped and polished by critique groups, creative writing classes, workshops, conferences, and editors. Some of those like my voice; others, not so much. I enjoy what I write, so I’ll keep on keeping on. That’s what I recommend to all writers.

Listen to that unique voice within you. Savor it. Develop it. And enjoy the ride.

~~~~~~~

CANDLESTICKS is Sharon Ervin’s ninth published novel, the third in the three-book Jancy Dewhurst series. Seven of her early books are now available on Amazon Kindle.



Sharon’s website:  http://www.sharonervin.com/

Blogsite:  http://sharonervin.wordpress.com/

Thanks a million Sharon!

Readers, let's hear your comments.

Cyber hugs,

Jackie King

Mystery We Write Blog Tour with Pat Browning

TAKE A BIRDSEYE VIEW INTO MYSTERY WRITER PAT BROWNING’S LIFE!

The following article by Pat Browning, gives us an in-depth view of this top-notch storyteller’s struggle to create her books, including ABSINTHE OF MALICE. I found “Two and a Half Books,” fascinating, and I think that you will, too.

Two And A Half Books

by Pat Browning

“My novel was stuck on page 70. I was in a rut, out of juice, badly in need of a change of scenery. I didn’t need a complete break, just a little variation in the routine, something more than a brisk walk around the block, something less than a climb up the Matterhorn.

“The perfect retreat turned out to be the Irwin Street Inn, a bed-and-breakfast across the street from the post office in Hanford, the small Central California town where I lived. The inn had new owners, a new brunch menu and a new cream tea service. I didn’t have to pack a suitcase. I could go home to check my answering machine and read my mail any time I felt the need. The inn was only two miles away from my computer.”



So began my article “White Noise,” published in the SouthWest Sage of June 2007 and reprinted in The Report (OWFI) of September 2007.

Irwin Street Inn

It’s something most writers experience from time to time. Without some kind of break, that weariness can lead to a real burnout. My few days at the Irwin Street Inn not only revived my flagging spirits, but the photos I took are tacked up where I can see them every day. I use the inn as a model in METAPHOR FOR MURDER, the further adventures of a small-town reporter named Penny Mackenzie, and a work still in progress these several years later.

Work in progress. There’s so much history in those words maybe I should write a book about it. Maybe I will, but another time. Right now I have a book and a half, one already in print – twice – and one half-finished, in progress.

What I’m writing is a limited series, three or four books. After all, the setting is a very small town and there’s only so much that can happen in a very small town. I’m even thinking of whisking my main characters off to Santa Fe, New Mexico for Book #3. The only thing standing in my way is Book #2.

Let’s start at the beginning. Here’s the logline for Book #1, originally called

FULL CIRCLE

: “It’s just another Labor Day weekend in a small California town until discovery of a skeleton in a cotton field leads to murder—and romance.”

When it comes to that book I always quote The Grateful Dead: “What a long strange trip it’s been.” I self-published it as

FULL CIRCLE

in 2001. Sold maybe 100 copies before I got tired of promoting it. In 2008, an online friend started a new press, read my book and made me an offer: a new title, a new cover, a few revisions, a two-year contract and an advance.

After I stopped laughing I thought, why not? And we went to work. A couple of months later I had a brand new book titled ABSINTHE OF MALICE and it’s racking up sales as an e-book in Amazon’s Kindle Store. You can still buy

FULL CIRCLE

. It’s lurking around out there, rattling its chains like The Ghost of Christmas Past. If I could afford it I’d buy up all the copies just to get rid of it. I’ve heard of people who have a split personality, but a book?

So now I have two versions of Book #1 and half a version of Book #2, working title METAPHOR FOR MURDER. Here’s the logline for Book #2: “Small town reporter Penny Mackenzie tracks an offbeat Christmas story and finds herself in the middle of a murder and the mysterious desecration of an old Chinese cemetery.”

Which brings us back to “White Noise” and my retreat at the Irwin Street Inn.

From Chapter 3 of my WIP, here’s my description of a fictional version of the inn: “… a pale gray house with a skirted wraparound porch, dark blue trim, second floor balconies, assorted wings and several outbuildings. In the gloom of fog, with Christmas lights twinkling inside and out, the place looked like an old-fashioned snow globe.”

One of the photos I snapped during my retreat became a fictional apartment for Watt, my protagonist’s first and only love. In real life it’s a separate house. In my novel I make it part of the main house, with an inside staircase leading down to the parlor. I also added another window to the bayed window so I could place Watt there, looking down on the street.

That’s the great thing about writing a novel. You can rearrange the facts to suit your fiction. To set a key scene in Chapter 15, I used the photo I call “Watt’s apartment.” In this scene, Penny accidentally learns that Watt paid a visit to an old girl friend while on a business trip. She gives him what-for and ends up throwing her shoe at him, while he looks out the window and wonders how many bones he would break if he jumped.

Every once in a while writing should be fun, and this scene was fun to write. Who has more fun that than writers? Nobody I know.

Several years ago I made a story board. It has been leaning against a wall all this time, with yellow sticky notes stuck in the squares I marked off to represent chapters. Lucky for me, too, because it has kept the story alive while I was doing a million things besides finishing my book.

But the fun’s over for now. It’s time for a close encounter with my story board. Stay tuned!

Jackie, thanks for inviting me to do a guest blog today. I hope your readers enjoy it.

Pat Browning

Pat, I’m sure they did! I certainly found your tale riveting. I’m envious, I want to take a break from writing and visit this wonderful sounding Irwin Street Inn. My mouth is watering to try their cream tea.



Pat Browning

More about Pat, plus some of her websites::

Pat Browning is a native Okie and also a veteran traveler. Her globetrotting led her into the travel business as a correspondent for TravelAge West, a trade journal published in San Francisco. In the 1990s, she signed on fulltime as a newspaper reporter and columnist, first at The Selma Enterprise and then at The Hanford Sentinel.

http://pbrowning.blogspot.com/

www.authorsden.com/patbrowning.

http://patbrowning.weebly.com (under construction)

Readers, If you have questions or comments for Pat, I’m sure she would be delighted to respond.

Happy reading to all!

Jackie