I've always been a lover of classic Broadway shows. I adore the musical numbers, the themes, and the glorious energy displayed on stage. I'm amazed at great songwriters' ability to teach us as they entertain, with numbers like "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" from Grease or "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" from South Pacific..
Lately I've had a number from Camelot running through my head. Not the usual ones, like "If Ever I Would Leave You" or "Camelot," but one a group of knights sing...
A few years back, our little town elected people to the school board who trumpeted themes we hear from many extremists these days: the school was corrupt. The teachers were pedophiles. There were kitty litter boxes in the bathrooms. No one knows how they got in, except that the grownups weren't paying attention. That's how logic dies.
When I went to a board meeting to see what all the fuss was about, I found a half-dozen other retired teachers who were as shocked by the new board members'...
I love the mood set by this cover photo. The problem arises when it's reduced in size, because the lettering melts into unreadable blobs. We're experimenting with new fonts and colors, so it might end up with all black or all white lettering, or the artist who helps me with covers might find a font that shows up better.
Covers are weird in that they speak to some and not to others. Are we subconsciously looking for a certain vibe, so that our eyes stop at the book on the shelf at the store...
Not the cover. Not the manuscript. Not the pre-publication hoopla. None of it is done. But I'm working on it.
The plot premise: Tonnie Berndt wakes to find that she's been "missing" from the world for some time. Dealing with one surprise after another, some good, some tragic, she becomes involved in a cold case murder that happened while she was comatose. It soon becomes clear that someone wants her to go missing again; this time for good.
The progress: The story's been edited for content,...
History shows us that societies tend to flourish until their size and variety create problems that are, or at least seem, insoluble. Because no one can agree on what should be done, leaders begin "kicking the can down the road," talking a lot and solving nothing. Citizens don't like it, and many begin to look for a leader who promises solutions. A person comes along who says, "I can fix it!" or even "ONLY I can fix it." The solutions promised might be poorly designed; they might be dumb; they...
A long time back, maybe ten years, I had an idea for a mystery: a woman wakes from a long coma to find her world is completely different. I worked on it and liked it, but at the time I was under contract to two different publishers for series, so I didn't have the time I wanted to make the story work.
Late in 2024, I found the MS in my files and thought, "I could update this." I did. I love it. But my editor pointed out some flaws that needed work. And more work. And more work.
I love this...
I have a pet theory that's based on no proof and no research, only personal observation. I believe that we in the US are so overexposed to lies that we've stopped seeing lying and liars as bad. The US President lies daily. Your Congressperson and Senator probably do too. Sadly, many consider the response of the sophisticated person should be, "It's just politics."
Not "Don't do that." Not "I won't vote for a liar." Just "Oh, well."
That's not my theory, by the way. My theory is that our society...
The country is a mess. There is no hope that it will right itself in a month, or six months, or ever. So what should you do?
Write something. Write a poem, or a letter, or an essay, or a short story, or a book. It doesn't have to be a screed or a solution or an award-winning piece of literature.
Writing is cathartic. Focusing on putting "the best words in the best order" is calming. The end result is a lessening of stress. There, you tell yourself. I wrote it down.
You might improve it later....
My husband sometimes chuckles at my book-buying style. I want to go to an actual bookstore and wander through the shelves, picking up this one and that one, adding this one to my pile of purchases and returning that one to the shelf. I want to talk to the clerks and see what they're reading. I often strike up conversations with other browsers about whether such-and-such an author's latest book is a good one or lesser. I don't often buy books second-hand, and I don't sell them once I've...
Two incidents this week in which I conquered technological problems.
Incident One: I switched streaming services. The new one said there was a channel guide, but there wasn't. After running around the website in circles for an hour, I got online and started a chat. The tech said try this. Now try this. Now send me a screenshot. As I did, I felt my blood pressure rising. I know I'm not stupid, but I felt stupid and frustrated and angry. Telling myself it wasn't the tech's fault, I typed a...
Yes, I'm stealing lines from Shakespeare to get your attention, but for authors, the question is real. Every book needs a title, and it's sometimes hard to generate one that's both descriptive and alluring. I probably will never pick up a book that has words like rotting or frenzy in the title, though I know people who love that sort of thing. I also avoid mysteries with too-cute titles, usually puns stretched beyond what my English teacher brain can bear. Murder mystery titles should evoke...
The world of mystery can be divided roughly into three groups: hard-boiled mystery, traditional mystery, and cozy mystery (once called chick-lit, but that expanded into geezer-lit, etc.) I write in two of those.
Hard-boiled mystery is tough and often violent. I don't do that. Can't might be a better word.
Peg Herring's mysteries are traditional. The protagonist is in search of a criminal, possibly hired to do so, possibly working to protect an innocent party, sometimes herself. Violence is not...
No.
Oh, I need to say more than that? Okay.
Writing can't die, because people will always want to express themselves, choosing their own words and putting them into their own "right order." While some will accept AI's version of writing, real readers will look beyond auto-generated wordage and seek out authors with something to say that matters to them.
Who will that be? People like me. There are a lot of us out there.
Why are we better than a machine at what we do? Let me list some reasons.
...
(Sorry-the photo here has nothing to do with the topic today. I just realized I should be offering something other than the little typewriter picture every time I write!)
There was an article on Facebook this morning about book blurbs. These back-of-the-book passages used to be teasers about the story and the characters, but increasingly, they've become a list of authors (usually from the same publishing house) who say what a great book this is and what a great talent the author is.
When I...
Those who know me are aware that I also write cozy mysteries under the pen name Maggie Pill. (I chose that pseudonym by taking my grandmother's name, Margaret Pillsbury, and making it cute.) Maggie has a series called Cats & Crime, in which the protagonist is a woman who loves and rescues cats. There are three books in the series thus far. While I don't often read my reviews on Amazon, I saw one recently that asked, "Why would I want to read a book about a grumpy old woman with a bunch of...
February 1 is the day I'm scheduled to send Yesterday's Murder to my editor. A deadline is one of those shivery moments: There's the joy of sharing the book with someone who knows the ropes and will make suggestions to improve my work. There's also the dread of being told, "No, no, no! Not that way!"
I believe the right editor is a jewel beyond price. I've had some bad ones, one that wanted everything written the way he'd have done it (and he was no prize at writing) and a couple who thought...
Writers are, almost without exception, readers. That stands to reason. That doesn't mean we like everything we pick up to read. The story goes that James Fenimore Cooper was reading a novel he considered bad, and he complained aloud to his wife. She said if he didn't like what he was reading, maybe he should write a book himself. Hence, a bunch of novels known as classics (although I had plenty of students who didn't like them.)
There are tons of ways to write a good novel, but for today, I'm...
The book I'm working on is a traditional mystery (no surprise there), and I like the premise: A woman wakes from a coma and learns that her cop husband was killed while she was unconscious. Through a series of scares, she learns that his death was not what it seemed at the time, and she becomes determined to find out the truth. As in every mystery you've ever read, that desire for truth leads to trouble.
I like writing mysteries with unusual protagonists, as you might know if you've read my...
My husband has a gift. I'm not sure what to call it; it's part curiosity, part smarts, and part self-confidence. If that sounds confusing, here's an example.
Our daughter bought a row house in Richmond, Virginia, and of course we motored down to see it. As she showed us the unique setup, rooms set one after another in a space 90' x 20', she mentioned that most of the houses on the block had pocket doors between the front parlor and the second. She was slightly disappointed that hers had a...
A year ago we bought a second home in Florida. The refrigerator works fine, but it was dated and pitted, and we discussed what to do to make it look better. Online I read that people paint their old fridges. That sounded intriguing, but I wanted to talk with someone who might know the pros and cons, so I went to the paint desk to ask.
Me: I'd like your expertise on a matter. Have you heard of painting a refrigerator?
Man: What? Paint what?"
Me: I've read in several places that you can paint a...