Be on the Lookout

Sharon Wildwind

Think of this blog as a puddle-jumper, one of those little airplanes that “hops” from place-to-place in very short flights. Several decades ago I was on one of those flights: take-off, land, take-off, land, get air sick—only time I’ve ever been airsick—take-off, land at final destination, all in under an hour-and-a-half. Today, we’re going to try to skip the air sick part.

Monday morning is when I check in with places I visit on the Internet weekly. One is 43 folders, a site run by the techie, lets-get-real-creative-work done guy, Merlin Mann.

This week Mann featured a poster, which I didn’t quite get, and a reference to an article, entitled What Crisis?, in The Guardian, a British newspaper.

First stop on our flight, the article. According to the author, Jon Henley, something old has surfaced again in Britain. Just before the beginning of World War II, some British civil servants were tasked with developing propaganda slogans to stiffen British reserve if Germany invaded England.

The first two posters in the series were rather ho-hum, but the third in the series was held-back for the worst-case scenario. The message to be distributed after the invasion? Keep Calm and Carry On.

Obviously, the invasion never happened and thousands of copies of that third poster went to the dump. Literally. Today, hopefully, it would go to recycling bins.

About ten years ago the slogan surfaced again, courtesy of two booksellers, and it has become a not-so-mini industry of posters, T-shirt, mugs, even baby wear. A blast from the past that speaks to the tensions of today.

Second stop on our mini-trip: Matt Jones. I’m still a little confused about who Jones is, but he seems to be another techie, who is creative and well-liked. On his Flicker site I found—in multiple sizes suitable for downloading—the poster I’d originally seen on Merlin Mann’s site. Just so none of us will confuse Jones’s work with the original one from Britain, this new one has a green instead of a red background, a fanciful crown instead of a regal one, and a counter-saying to keeping calm and carrying on.



Here’s the third stop on our flight, a site called Creative Commons. They want to promote digital creativity, mixes, reproductions, all those cool things you can do with a computer, but are often hampered by legal paraphernalia and paranoia. This is the part where I’m the tiniest bit hazy, or perhaps I’m just air sick again. Discussion of digital management rights or DMRs tends to make me queasy.

What I think I’ve read is that I can display Matt Jones poster in this blog, as long as I give Matt credit for it. He did it, folks, all by his lonesome self, with a little help from his computer. And I can’t make money off of it—no worries there. And I have to mention the creative common license, which I did above.

Having cleared the legal hurdle as we made our last take-off, let’s get to our final destination. I am SO in favor of what that poster says. Yes, things are bad out there, and no, being a Pollyanna won’t help. But I do truly believe that two things will help: focused excitement and creativity.

Creativity doesn't necessarily mean that we produce a book or a play or a symphony, though those things would be nice. It means that we pay attention, that we live in the details, and that we try to make things better. We are smart people; we are creative people. We can make a future that is better than what we have today.

So I’m hoping that Matt Jones’s poster becomes as popular on this side of the Atlantic as the World War II poster has become in Britain. I’m going to be on the look out for it, and I hope you’ll join me. And when we see it—on a poster or a screen-saver, on a mug or T-shirt—I think we should give each other some sort of creative high five sign. A right on, sister; an I’m with you, brother.

Now let’s get out there and create.
_______
Quote for the week
Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth. ~Madeline L'Engle, writer

Shakespeare: 444 and Ever in The News

by Julia Buckley

Why has Shakespeare remained so powerful, so relevant, after 444 years? Why is it that his words, written in a long-ago era, still prove so prescient and true? Why is it that every time I read one of his plays I actually fall in love with his language--and more deeply as I grow older?

My crush on Shakespeare used to be based on his work alone, but it has intensified since the Sanders Portrait has come back into the news. This portrait, thought to be the only one done of Shakespeare while he was living, depicts him in his thirties as a far more attractive fellow than his other famous paintings do.

Today I learned what many people probably already knew--that Helen Mirren has been cast as the lead in THE TEMPEST, a film which might come out in 2009.

I teach THE TEMPEST twice a year, so this is very important news. The play, as all of Will's fans know, is about Prospero, The Duke of Milan, who is supplanted from his throne by his evil brother Antonio. Prospero is cast adrift with his nearly three-year-old daughter Miranda in the Mediterranean Sea. Antonio expects his brother to die, but instead Prospero and his daughter land on a magical island inhabited only by a monstrous creature (Caliban) and a creature of air (Ariel).

Prospero, a genius of the Humanities, had been immersed in his studies in Italy, but on this magical island he finds that he can tap into magical power with his intellectual power and become a great sorcerer--something he achieves over a period of twelve years.

By the end of the play, Prospero must decide whether or not he will use his power to get revenge against his perfidious brother and his two co-conspirators, who in a twist of fate are shipwrecked on the very island on which they marooned Prospero.

For Mirren, the new film has been changed so that the main character is named Prospera. She too has a daughter named Miranda, and she too will encounter the same creatures on the island.

I am intrigued by the idea of a female Prospero. The original Tempest is very patriarchal, and Miranda's virtue is discussed by the male characters almost as a piece of property to be protected. She is "given" to her fiancee as a gift, but of course Prospero's behavior is reflective of his culture.

This new film, as I see it, is a chance to discuss Prospero's dilemma in a more universal sense. By making Prospero female, the director can remove the oppressive dynamic of a father and fiancee dominating Miranda's life and future, and enrich the discussion of human power and its limits. Mirren can become a Gaia of the island--a woman who creates herself through the power of art, and then must face the limitations of humanity.

The Tempest may be one of my favorite Shakespearean plays. It contains so much beautiful language, perhaps most famously Prospero's line "We are the stuff that dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."

Dreaming is a theme of The Tempest--the notion that much of our experience is illusion. I look forward to the newest interpretation of this play and what beautiful visuals can be created in homage to a genius that never died.

What's your favorite Shakespearean play?


art link here

Canada Calling: Vivian Arend

Vivian Arend is a Canadian author who loves the outdoors and incorporates her wilderness experiences into her writing.

PDD: You write in fantasy/urban fantasy settings, and different worlds require different rules. How much time do you spend developing rules for your worlds?

VA:
As much time as it takes! When I started on my first werewolf shifter story I read as many other shifters as I could over a two-month period. There were certain themes I found common in many of them- the full moon, biting, possessiveness, lifelong mates. In some places the authors had added variety. I choose the folklore I wanted in my world and started creating rules from there, for example, I wanted the predestined mates but the not the idea of being influenced by the moon.

When I decided to write a water shifter I couldn’t find more than one other novel to read, and that author had taken a very different tack than I wanted to attempt. So I started from scratch, asking myself questions about how I thought merfolk could fit into our world and stay hidden. I found an incredible illustration of a woman wading in an ocean cavern surrounded by iridescent St. Elmo’s fire and it inspired me to start the book. It was about a week’s worth of planning. If you’d like to see the picture I’ve got it on my blog.

PDD: Do you do this all before you begin the writing or does the world evolve as the book does?

VA:
I write off the cuff for the most part, so the world definitely evolves the farther into the story I go. Sometimes changes come from questions other characters raise and I realize I need clarity in an area. I’ve also found having good critique partners help immensely because there are times when I get too close to the story to realize I haven’t explained an issue. I –know- what’s happening, I just haven’t said it yet!

PDD:What kinds of things do you consider in world building?

VA:
For straight fantasy I need a list of the character types (elves, etc.) but the most important things for me turn out to be the history of the world prior to where my story starts and a map.

To produce the first I do two things: I write an ‘Epic Prologue’, which is NOT included in the final story, and I have one character tell a story the others. It is amazing how clearly writing in a traditional Homeric fashion produces an outline of history. And making a character recite what they consider a well-known and loved tale is like hearing someone quote ‘It was the Night Before Christmas’. It gives insight into the world and who lives there at the time in history.

And a map- I have a little talent in drawing, and adding the contours of the world makes it far easier to write scenes, especially if there is any kind of journey involved in the tale.

For the urban fantasy I’ve been writing I’m trying to really consider HOW the fantasy could fit into what we know as reality. If werewolves exist, how have they survived and remained hidden? How is the ability to change forms passed onto their children? It’s these questions that can be answered in new ways to make what I write different from any other authors.

PDD: You’ve said you’re concerned about genre wars. How did that concern come about?

VA:
One of the strangest conversations I heard this past year happened at a writer’s conference. As an avid reader of all genres I was surprised to overhear a couple of authors rudely criticizing other kinds of novels for their “lack of intelligence”.

As an author this concerned me. While I agree a poorly written book or a weakly edited book, which manages to reach publication, makes me cringe, rating the value of a book based on its genre alone seems to be counterproductive.

Considering the variety of styles and voices of authors, even with a genre, I think there is room for the different categories out there without people finger pointing and assuming that books along one shelf at the library are ‘better’ than another.

PDD: What would make peace between the different factions?

VA:
Over the years I’ve enjoyed classics, mysteries, thrillers, romance, fantasy, sci-fi, young adult, historical, war stories. The only thing I have difficulties reading is horror because my brain can’t take it—far too scary for me!

Just like there are different seasons to our lives in terms of what we have the time, energy and interest in pursuing, I think there are valid reasons to read different genres. When I had two children under the age of three I wasn’t looking for books that required deep concentration! I was sleep deprived. I wanted easier reads that still made my heart and soul happy. As my life situation has changed so have my reading habits. It’s still eclectic, but there are definitely genres that catch my eye and they will always be my first choice to read.

If part of the cattiness stemmed from the concern that in this day of decreased discretionary spending that one genre will steal sales from another I think we need to remember that readers have preferences they gravitate toward. You might write the best horror novels around, but I’m never going to read your work. But I promise to respect you for improving your craft, and continuing to put out the best books you possibly can that will thrill your readers to death.

Ultimately, isn’t that why writers, write? To touch people where they need to be touched? Whether it is a horror that makes their blood chill, a sci-fi that leads their minds into future worlds, a mystery that puzzles the mind or a romance that stirs the heart.

PDD: How does it feel to be not only a new writer, but a successful new writer?

VA:
I have been extremely fortunate, selling my first story so quickly. But I have also worked hard at what I’ve done. While I’ve written for a short time I’ve read reams of books over the years with a critical eye. That alone helped me emulate authors I admire while developing my own voice as a writer. I’ll be the first to admit that when I submitted I was woefully ignorant of the process. For example, I needed a synopsis to submit with my manuscript. I had no idea what that was. Wrote one out in a couple hours and submitted.

But –after- that first time I’ve learned so much. I’ve asked people I admire for suggestions. I’ve found out what a synopsis should look like. Now when I write one up and compare with my first effort, I have improved greatly.

The bottom line through out the whole process has been the –why- I’ve written. I didn’t feel a great yearning to write since I was young. I wanted to write a book. Period. It sounded like an entertaining activity to attempt and as I wrote I found enjoyed every minute of it.

Every step brings a smile to my face. Finding characters, fixing plot holes. Editing the word ‘over’ out of my most recent manuscript for the 200th time (seriously, I’m having major issues with repetition. I need to talk to my muse…) Getting to see the cover art for a story for the first time. Having someone email me that they are excited about reading my story because the heroine is deaf. The entire shindig has been a HOOT, and I’m so glad I decided to try and play.

PDD: Why don't writers have more fun? Or maybe another way to ask it—which is really a different question—is why do writers take themselves so seriously?

VA:
I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking writing seriously. For some, it’s their career; it’s consistent, demanding work, especially with deadlines to meet. But there’s a difference between taking your writing seriously and taking life too seriously. Any job I’ve done I throw my heart and soul into it and try to find the enjoyable parts.

If I want to be writing for a long time I need to be excited to go back into my current work in progress. I need to want to chat with readers groups. I keep thinking back to that bumper sticker that says ‘Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.’ I’m going to be a multi-published author, and there’s a whole lot about the industry I still don’t know. If I’d waited until I knew all the answers I would have missed a whole lot of grinning.

PDD: That ties in with this topic… Watching other writers agonize over the details
Why is it that we do this? Is this a stumbling block that many writers can't get past (the forest for the trees kind of idea)?

VA:
As I’ve gotten to know more people within the writing community I’ve discovered there are many styles of writing. I have my method—fast and furious. It’s not better than other methods, but it’s the right one for me.

Still, I have to admit I think the quote attributed to Nora Roberts is completely correct. She said, “I can edit a bad page. I can’t edit a blank page.” Writers who stop and agonize over whether the wall behind the villain was gray or ash- they’re losing momentum. Tell the story, get the page filled, and edit the details later. I love my thesaurus, I really do, but I pull it out after I’ve written ‘The End’.

In case you are wondering what I’m talking about, an example I pulled off a writer’s chat room this past week… “I am stuck on finding this one word for a sentence in my story. It begins, I'm pretty sure, with a p, and means to speak very pretentiously. I can't find it on thesaurus or anywhere and it's driving me nuts. Please help!”

I wonder how long that poor soul had been searching for the word ‘pontificate’? The search for the perfect word stopped the flow of creativity for this individual and produced frustration. I shudder to think what will happen if down the road they sell the story and the editor asks them to remove ‘the word’. Perhaps they have simply made a note *p something* and continued to paint the broader picture with less accurate words, to enjoy the experience of creating.

When we were little and playing games of make believe, we didn’t make sure we all had our lines memorized before starting. We stepped into character and lived in the nursery as pirates and princesses and fairies at tea.

I think sometimes we need to remember the gift of childhood and just start playing.

Vivian’s first novel, Wolf Signs, releases March 24. She has two other books contracted for 2009 release. To learn more about Vivian and her books, visit her web site.

Interview with author June Shaw

By Lonnie Cruse

Today I'm pleased to have author June Shaw join me at PDD for an interview. I met June several years ago on the Internet in a writer's group and read her first manuscript. I knew she had a winner. Now she's got two books in print.

PDD: Why did you defer writing your first book for so long?

JS: Goodness, that seems like such a funny question. I'd wanted to be a writer since ninth grade but never tried and married my high school sweetheart right out of school. He was four years older. Within the next six years, I gave birth to five children. "Are you a sex fiend or good Catholic?" people asked me. "Both," I replied. I kept rather busy with the kids' events, and when they were aged five to eleven, my husband died.

Once my mind worked a little, I knew I needed to provide the sole income. I wanted to write. My silly kids wanted to wear shoes and eat and such, so I didn't have time to read a novel, much less try to write one. I completed my college degree, taught English to great ninth grade students, and finally started writing and selling small pieces: essays, stories, one-act plays and a short screenplay produced on the New Orleans channel for the arts. Finally--time to read and try writing novels.

I retired after twenty years of teaching. Soon afterward, I sold a novel, RELATIVE DANGER, which has received great reviews. My children and eight grandchildren are so proud of me. It took so many years--but I'm finally fulfilling my childhood dream. Love it!

PDD: Well deserved kudos, June. How long did it take you to write that book and get it published?

JS: Ten years? Actually, I'm not sure, but when I was writing screenplays, I wrote one called Spunky Lady that I considered similar to Karate Kid. It didn't sell but received great comments. The spunky lady, whom I loved, years later became Cealie Gunther, the amateur sleuth in my series. Her granddaughter who played an important role was a high school senior in the script. Still a senior, she became a major player who could become a victim in RELATIVE DANGER.

It took me quite awhile to learn to write mysteries, but I love them. I've also added a love interest in this series, Cealie's hunky sometimes-ex-lover that she wants to avoid so she can rediscover herself. But he opens Cajun restaurants in all the places she travels - and she is so bad at avoiding tempting dishes and men. These books are fun and romantic and suspenseful murder mysteries. I've been surprised and thrilled at all of the great reviews they've received.

PDD: How have your real life experiences helped in writing your books?

JS: Wow, my hunk is a terrific Cajun cook. I ask for some of his best recipes to include in the books. Of course, he's obliging when I need research for a romance scene : ) Family is most important to Cealie, just as it is to me.

In RELATIVE DANGER a custodian died at school: accident? Or murder? Graduation might not take place. Cealie can't let that happen and pushes in to substitute teach a couple of days to straighten things out and makes matters much worse. Her grandchild could become a next victim unless Cealie determines who did what.

In KILLER COUSINS Cealie's cousin belongs to a stop smoking group that decided "quit day" is the day Cealie shows up, and a member of the group is found dead. Is Cealie's cousin involved? A possible next victim -- or murderer? I smoked most of my life, tried so many ways to quit, joined a stop-smoking group, and finally five years ago quit. Yea!

At my last class reunion four years ago, I studied people that I once thought I knew, some I had known well. The majority of us had gotten caught up with our own lives and families and not kept in touch. I watched them and wondered -- Who are they now? What are they really like? Suppose... What if... And then I knew. I would be writing a mystery in which a small group of former friends who hadn't seen each other in years would get together for a reunion. One female that was popular would have a major problem for them to help solve. Later I cruised in Alaska, remembered my classmates and knew the group would have to meet on that ship. (Boy, sometimes research gets really tough: )

PDD: Bawhahaha, yes, I can see how tough *some* of your research has been! Aspiring writers always want to know how published writers found their publishers. How did you find yours?

JS: I read positive things about Five Star by one of their authors on Sisters in Crime. I'd had some success with other areas of writing, selling essays and stories. Two one-act plays I wrote were produced Off-Off Broadway. A short screenplay I wrote appeared on a Channel for the Arts in New Orleans. I contacted an editor at Five Star about my novel, sent it, and received a contract! Loved it!

After Five Star published RELATIVE DANGER, which received great reviews and sold really well, Harlequin bought reprint rights. They reprinted my book and quickly sold out. Now Five Star just published KILLER COUSINS, my second book in the series. Harlequin is considering it for reprint. And I'm working on the third book in the series. This is so much fun!











PDD: Yes, indeedy! What is your typical writing day like?

JS: I get up around 7, read my Daily Word, get coffee and head for the computer -- unless I am taking care of little grandkids, which I offer to do about once a week, or if I'm going somewhere else. Life is a great adventure now. I was so confined for years with teaching English and raising my five children alone. Now I write and I play and travel.

PDD: Dare I ask? Okay, I will. How do you research your books? Do you always travel to a location before using it in your writing?

JS: Okay, Lonnie, in early December I had to do research for my third Cealie book, which takes place on a cruise ship. The ship's captain and purser and doctor and lots of other staff members gave me so much information. I have lots of pictures hugging them on the Lido deck. I love asking them where's a good place to find a body and such. In the third book, Cealie will go on the cruise to meet her female buddies from high school that she hasn't seen since then. One has a major problem. One has to die. Cealie's hunk has to show up. The ship's doctor gave me lots of info and then asked, "You're sure this is fiction, right?"

Yes, Cealie travels a lot, and I need to check out she's going next. RELATIVE DANGER takes place in Chicago, where I had a great time. KILLER COUSINS is set in Gatlinburg, TN, an area I love. I'm also really fond of cruises. I need to check each place out to make sure I can get Cealie out of the trouble she will definitely get herself in.

PDD: Have you given up wearing control top pantyhose, like your character, Cealie?

JS: Absolutely! Although I think I only tried some with control tops a couple of times, then decided I did not want to impress anyone enough to be squeezing myself into so much control. Now even the stockings are normally goners. Love it.

PDD: One of your non-writing activities listed on your website is fishing. Do you bait your own hooks? How successful are you at catching fish and what kind do you go after? I'm asking because I adore bass fishing but refuse to bait my own hooks.

JS: I'm good at fishing, and I'll teach you how to bait your hooks. Last week four of us went to a pond with worms late in the afternoon and caught 34 perch (called bream elsewhere, I think) and one nice bass - mine. During the summer I often go down to my squeeze's camp/summer home at Grand Isle, Louisiana, an island about ninety miles south from where I live. We go in his boat in areas around the Gulf of Mexico and catch lots of speckled trout. The bait we like best is artificial worms.

PDD: Is there anything else you'd like us to know about June Shaw or your books?

JS: Yes, please visit my Web site, www.juneshaw.com. There you can register for my changing contests, read more about my books, and see great pictures, like of my mom dancing at her 100th party. KILLER COUSINS is dedicated to her; it came out at the end of January, the day before she died, so we were able to read the dedication to her. We were so blessed. She was 102 and still coming to line dance classes with me. Last fall I received a call from a producer of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno who'd read about that and invited us to be on the show. We declined because Mom was almost blind from macular degeneration. She thought it was great fun being invited. We had so much great lively music at her funeral that our mayor, as the guest speaker on a radio talk show the next day, told everyone he'd been to the most fun funeral for her. At line dance class the next day, they dedicated the Freeze, Mom's favorite, to her.

Although my main character, Cealie, is nowhere near Mom's age, she has Mom's spunk. Cealie is who I want to be. I'm again working on Cealie's third book, which is set on that cruise ship. Mmm, gotta go check out the pictures again of me hugging on those hunks on the staff: )

PDD: Thanks, June for a fun interview. Any chance you need an "assistant" on your next fun research trip? Just asking.

Cover Art of 2008

At this year's Bouchercon in Indianapolis in October, an Anthony award will be given for the first time for the best cover art of 2008. Authors agonize about their covers, which can make such an impact on the book buyer or reader, for good or ill. The bigger the publisher, the less likely it is that the author will have any say about the cover. We've all heard horror stories. And sometimes we strike it lucky, and an artist, photographer, and/or designer captures a perfect and memorable illustration of the author's vision. I've invited any and all authors who loved their 2008 covers to display them here. Note that we are not connected with the Anthonys in any way, just giving as many 2008 covers as we can a little wider circulation.

If you registered early for Bouchercon and therefore have a ballot to vote for nominees (not winners) for the Anthonys, note that you have to include the format (hardcover, trade paper, or mass market paperback) for your picks. If you don't have the books, you can get that info on Amazon. Sorry, authors, I forgot to ask you to include it--you can add it in a comment on this post.

An unexpected number of authors did love their 2008 covers. Here's a big batch of those covers, and I'll post more next Thursday. I'll start with mine.

Elizabeth Zelvin, Death Will Get You Sober (hardcover)


Jeffrey Marks, Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography


Jeff Cohen, It Happened One Knife



Eric Stone, Flight of the Hornbill


Julie Kramer, Stalking Susan


Deborah Shlian, Rabbit in the Moon


Laura Elvebak, Less Dead


Betty Webb, Desert Cut


Kathy Lynn Emerson, How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries


Betty Sullivan LaPierre, The Lure of the Witch


C.J. Lyons, Lifelines (paperback original)


Lou Allin, And On the Surface Die


Jeri Westerson, Veil of Lies (hardcover)


Louise Ure, The Fault Tree (hardcover)


Vicki Lane, In A Dark Season (mass market paperback original)


Roberta Isleib, Asking For Murder (paperback original)


Elaine Viets, Clubbed to Death (hardcover)


Marilyn Meredith, Kindred Spirits


Mary Jane Maffini, The Cluttered Corpse


Baron Birtcher, Angels Fall (hardcover)


Clare Langley-Hawthorne, The Serpent and the Scorpion


Renée Gardner, And the Dog Took the Cat


I.J. Parker, The Hell Screen


Linda Richards, Death Was the Other Woman


Chester Campbell, The Marathon Murders (hardcover & trade paper)


Pat Browning, Absinthe of Malice (trade paperback)


Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, Seven for a Secret


Deborah Sharp, Mama Does Time


James R. Benn, Blood Alone


Visit again next Thursday, March 26, for more 2008 covers the authors loved.

Kerry Greenwood & the Fabulous Phryne Fisher

Interviewed by Sandra Parshall

Kerry Greenwood, a major crime fiction writer in her native Australia, has also gained an enthusiastic following in the U.S. for her mysteries set in the 1920s and starring the fabulously wealthy, always fashionable Phryne Fisher. After a false start with another U.S. publisher, the Phryne (pronounced Fry-knee, rhymes with briny) novels have been published in quick succession by Poisoned Pen Press, complete with the dazzling original covers from the Allan & Unwin editions in Australia. The latest is Murder in the Dark, released this month. Next is Murder on a Midsummer Night, out this summer. PPP also publishes Kerry’s new contemporary series featuring Corinna Chapman.

Kerry was born in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne, and lives there today. Although she had always aspired to be a writer, she earned a law degree from Melbourne University and continues to work one day a week for Victorian Legal Aid. She lives with three cats (Attilla, Belladonna, and Ashe), a collection of 7,000 books, and a registered wizard. In her spare time she has jumped out of planes in an attempt to cure her fear of heights, but only succeeded in giving herself a fear of jumping out of planes. She says she can detect bookshops from blocks away, and the size of her book collection lends credence to the claim.


Q. How did your arrangement with Poisoned Pen Press come about? Had you ever been published in the US before PPP picked up your books?

A. In the dim and distant past, i.e. 1991, Ballantine picked up the first two Phryne books, renamed Cocaine Blues [to] Death by Misadventure and they failed to sell. Then PPP contacted my Aus publisher and this time I caught the public taste, it appears. Thank you, public!

Q. Your covers are gorgeous – and so are the gowns Phryne wears. Who designs the gowns and who creates the covers?

A. My mother and I design the gowns and the amazing Beth Norling does the pictures. She sketches first then does a pastel. They are wonderful and so very actually 1928.

Q. Phryne seems ideally suited to her time. Why did you choose the 1920s? Could you write a character like Phryne in a 21st century setting?

A. Not really. Phryne is the product of the losses of the Great War, the sudden elevation of women because there were few men, and she is bold but not impossible for that period. It's not as easy as it used to be to be bold in the 21st century...

I picked 1928 initially because I did a thesis length essay on the 1928 strike for Legal History, and I over-researched it, interviewed all the old men who were on the wharf, read all the newspapers, fell in love with original research. My father was a wharfie so I could and did get into the Waterside Workers Federation archives. So when I was looking for a historical period I naturally thought of 1928.

Q. Does Phryne have qualities, or attitudes, that you consider distinctly Australian? Or would she be equally at home in 1920s America or Britain?

A. That is a really good question. I suppose her Aus qualities are a certain contempt for authority and perhaps her appetite for a good time. But she would fit in wherever she was - or rather, stand out. In England at the time she would be a Bright Young Thing and considered outrageous enough not to be invited to certain events - she would not get to meet the King, for example. In the USA at the time she would be overbold - and no one then would accept a Chinese lover, though it would have been worse if Lin was black. In fact, it would be illegal.

Q. Like many mystery heroines, Phryne is larger than life, an idealized woman. Is she someone you’d like to have as a friend? Other than lots of money, does she have anything that you wish you had?

A. Oh, that total uninterest in what anyone else thinks - I would love to have that. Her style. Her taste. Her hats! I would be delighted if she was my friend. In fact, she is. She sits on the corner of my desk and tells me stories.

Q. Tell us about the life of a writer in Australia. Are literary agents vital there, as they are in the US? Is it possible to find a publisher and have a writing career without an agent? I also wonder if you feel the same pressure American writers feel to get out in public, do bookstore signings, interviews, everything you possibly can to sell books. How much promotion do you do for your books?

A. I had an agent when I began, and I think an agent is a good thing, but not essential, in Australia. I used to do a great deal of publicity, tours, signings, radio and TV etc. When I was younger I thought it was great fun. Then I got older and menopause ran over me like a big black truck and I got too sick and exhausted to do any but the main interviews. My publisher does not press me to do more than I think is wise, because they want me to continue to write books...

Q. What attracted you to the mystery genre? What can you do in a mystery that you couldn’t do in mainstream fiction?

A. You can provide a story which everyone wants to read right through to the end. The trouble with lit fiction is that post-modernism has disjuncted (is that a word? It ought to be) or perhaps I mean dislocated the narrative, so you can't read it in bed. Mysteries are one of the few forms of fiction left that demand a story, and I am a story teller. I am in good company. Dickens, for a start.

Q. Have you ever studied writing, or have you learned on the job, so to speak? Do you believe formal instruction in writing gives an author an advantage?

A. Never studied writing, just wrote a lot of books, and when I was a child I used to read dictionaries and cornflakes packets and everything I could get my hands on. I did do a university degree in arts, though, including English, which sharpens the mind and broadens the horizons. I read, for example, Mrs. Gaskell, whom otherwise I might not have met. A writing class can teach grammar and spelling and sentence construction and they are all good things, because without them the story is not told in its most effective form. Depends on the person...

Q. You’re incredibly prolific. How long does it take you to write a book? Are you already thinking about the next one as you write? Do you take a break between books or just dive into a new one right away? Do you write every day?

A. I can only think of one book at a time and I think and research for about three months and then I write the book when it demands to be written. In its extreme form, a novel takes three weeks with no time out for sleep and a staggering intake of coffee. Now that I am supervised firmly by my cat Belladonna, who hits the caps lock when I have been typing for more than three hours, a novel takes a couple of months. And what you see is what you get. I have no drafts. I just describe what I can see in front of my eyes, like a film. Insane, I know, but it works and now, after fifty novels, I trust it.

Q. Would you tell us a bit about your new series? This doesn’t mean the end of Phryne, does it?

A. No, Phryne continues. The new series is a cosy set in the present about Corinna Chapman, who is the same size as me (fat) and is a baker in the city of Melbourne. She has several cats, a lover called Daniel, and she lives in an eccentric apartment house called Insula. Unlike Phyrne, Corinna is not a hero. She makes mistakes. She gets things wrong. She's refreshing to write about...

Q. What current crime fiction writers do you admire?

A. Love that Janet Ivanovich. Read Kathy Reichs (though I prefer the character in Bones, perhaps because she gets to work with David Boreanz). Admire Susan Wittig Albert, Donna Leon, Tony Hillerman.

Q. I read somewhere that you have a collection of more than 7,000 books. I’m unspeakably envious, but at the same time I want to ask the same question people asked the woman who gave birth to octuplets: Did you plan this, or did it just happen? What’s in your collection? Have you read all of them? If you wanted a particular book, could you find it easily?

A. They accreted, like a coral reef. Gradually. I haven't moved house for a long time, which may explain it. I know where everything is because the poetry is all in one place, as is the history, the male and female biogs, the detective stories, the science fiction, the research books. I have certainly read all of them, the collection is the books I read and decided I wanted to read again. Every now and again I have a huge purge, give away armloads, and when I look back I still have just as many books and no space in the shelves... there may be something magical in this.

Q. You have many fans in the United States. Do you think you’ll ever come over for a visit and meet some of them?

A. At the moment I have an affliction of the middle ear which makes it impossible for me to fly long distances. If this gets better or someone offers me a cruise, I would love to come to America.

Visit the author's website at www.phrynefisher.com

Wearing of the Green

Sharon Wildwind

Dia’s Muire agus Padraic duit.

Of course I’m jumping the gun by starting a conversation with that sentence. According to my Buntús Cainte: a first step in spoken Irish, the first person to speak simply invokes God’s blessing, “Dia duit.” The second person takes it up a notch with “Dia’s Muire duit.” The third person builds to, “Dia’s Muire agus Padraic duit.” I think—don’t quote me on this—there is a fourth form, which invokes not only God, Mary, and St. Patrick, but St. Columba as well. Perhaps Bishop Blackie Ryan would know.

Anyway, you get the idea: each person speaking has to add a little, not only to get the last word, but to make sure that each response tops, ever so slightly, what the previous speaker said.

Sure and could I be doing a St. Patrick’s day blog without mentioning the green? Only I’m not going to write about any of those forty shades that supposedly dot the Emerald Isle. Let’s talk about that green-eyed . . . monster. Jealousy.

I spend a lot of time being jealous of fellow writers. There is a high correspondence between who I’ve just finished reading, or am currently reading, and the jealousy quotient. Except some time the jealousy lingers far after I’ve scarfed down everything a writer has to offer.

Take Stephen Booth. He was one of the authors I picked to read in 2007 and two years later, I’m still green-pea jealous about his skill in making geography and atmosphere characters in his novels. I can’t say that his books made me immediately want to book the next flight to Great Britain’s Peak District, but that’s not what he’s after. He’s writing terrific police procedurals, not travelogs.

Ditto on the jealous side for Margaret Maron and Vicki Lane. Their geography is North Carolina: the Piedmont for Maron and western North Carolina for Lane. They not only have that the land down pat, but the culture and the rapidly-disappearing historic speech patterns.

Traveling in time rather than space, I put Anne Parker and Jana G. Oliver at the top of my people to envy list. Parker sets her books in the Leadville, Colorado of 1879-1880. I confess that I’m a real historical novel snob. If I know something about a historical period, and the writer gets details even a little wrong, it diminishes the book’s pleasure for me. I haven’t caught Parker out yet and I don’t expect to. Oliver anchors her time-travel mysteries with one end in 2057 and the other in 1888 London. I feel as though I am watching her characters flit from the future to the past and back again like a spectator watching world-class tennis at Wimbledon. Game, set, and match.

My husband and his friends who compete in western martial arts have a saying, “On any given day.” What it means is that, on any given day—usually o-dark-thirty on a Saturday—when packing to leave for an event, a competitor know that today’s outcome will be decided, in part, by today being a spectacular day for him or a rotten day for the other guy.

When I think about all of these writers, I know—on any given day—that I’m just as good as they are. I can turn out a line, a paragraph, sometimes even a whole chapter that could proudly stand beside one of theirs. I’m jealous because I want to be, all the time—every line, every paragraph, every book—as good as they are. I want other people to read something I’ve written and say with a groan, “I wish I’d written that.”

Isn't it lovely the way writers are always pushing the quality of the writing up a notch, playing off of the strengths of other writers!
_______
Quote for the week:
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?
~Robert Browning, poet
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May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Psychic Moments, Soothsayers, and Computerized Mind-Reading

by Julia Buckley
I wrote to my friend John Dandola this weekend saying that I dreamed I went to his anniversary party, and that he had three sons (he doesn't) who sang for him and his wife at the celebration. There was more bizarre detail, and I mostly e-mailed him because it was funny. He then wrote back that it was odd I'd contacted him just then, because he'd been thinking about me a great deal, and this last week in particular.

Moments like these send me back to my questions about the human brain and its potential for mind-melding. Have you ever had those moments where you are about to call someone, and your phone rings, and it's that person?

The best example I have of the mindreading thing goes back to my early days of teaching, when I was fresh out of the wrapper and working in a Catholic school. The little old nun in charge of the AV equipment was named Sister Theresa Rose, and she was very sweet. I once went into the AV lab to sign out a VCR for my class. I had lately been plagued by some unexpected and severe back pain, and I was worried about it, since I was only twenty-something and not prone to this sort of thing. However, I hadn't really told anyone about it. When I entered her domain on this day, Sister Theresa Rose looked at me and said, "Oh, Julia, I've been thinking about you! I had a dream that you were suffering from sciatica."

That's just one example, of course, but it's always stayed with me because I believed at the time that she, a spiritual person, had tapped into something in me.

Interestingly, scientists believe that mind-reading is something that can be done even by computer, and in fact it is being used more and more in the detection of crime. There are Orwellian implications of this, but it certainly would go far to answer some of the mysteries that have, in the past, remained unsolved. According to this Newsweek article, when a witness is being 'read,' "The detective is careful not to mention the murder weapon. Once the suspect has conjured up the scene, the detective asks him to envision the weapon. Pay dirt: his pattern of brain activity screams "hammer" as loud and clear as if he had blurted it out."

The article also suggests, though, that people's mind patterns are remarkably similar: "If what your brain does when it thinks about an igloo is almost identical to what mine does, that suggests the possibility of a universal mind-reading dictionary, in which brain-activity pattern x means thought y in most people." This, then, would allow a computer to read minds by noting brain activity on a brain scan. But is it also what allows people to "read" each other's minds? Or must we believe that every time we have seemingly psychic moments, they are coincidental?

There is, after all, the concept of intuition, which has always existed. How did ancient people define it? In honor of the date, I'll reference Shakespeare's famous soothsayer in Julius Caesar, who warned Caesar to "Beware the Ides of March." Was he acting on intuition? Shakespeare called him a "seer," and many ancient Greek plays reference this idea. How then, did the seers get their ability? Can anyone tap into this phenomenon?

And my final question for the day (geez, all prompted by one innocent e-mail!) is: What have been your experiences with "psychic" moments?

Winner!

Karen Brees won the drawing for a free copy of one of my books. Karen, I've emailed you, so let me know which book you want and where to send. Lonnie

The Dreaded Book Tour

By Vicki Delany, guest blogger


Before I became a writer I imagined the book tour as follows:

· T day minus one month – Receive schedule of appearances from publisher.
· T Day minus three weeks – Receive airline tickets and hotel reservations from publisher.
· T Day minus two weeks – Shop for suitable clothes for appearances.
· T Day minus two weeks – Send receipts for new clothes to publisher.
· T Day minus one week – Receive list of newspaper and radio interviews from publisher.
· T Day minus two days – Check ink levels in good pen.
· T Day minus one day – Pack suitcase and go to bed early.
· T Day – Be ready on time for limo pickup for drive to airport.
· Duration of Book Tour: Have fun, meet people and talk about books and writing.

Now that I am a writer, I know that the book tour goes as follows:

· T Day minus 6 months - Send introductory e-mail to every bookstore and library in target area.
· T Day minus 5.5 months – Follow up every e-mail with telephone call.
· T Day minus 5.5 months to T-Day minus 1 month -- Follow up phone call with another phone call. Repeat.
· T Day minus 3 months – Notice that book store A is 8 hours drive from book store B, and the signing at bookstore A finishes one half hour before the signing at book store B begins.
· T Day minus 3 months – Juggle appearances on three days surrounding screw-up mentioned above.
· T Day minus 1 month – Write date and time on postcards for bookstores to hand out.
· T Day minus 2 weeks – Go on Internet to arrange car rental. Be shocked at the cost.
· T Day minus 1 week – See doctor for hand cramp caused by all that writing on postcards.
· T Day minus 6 days – Go to bank to withdraw cash for trip.
· T Day minus 6 days – PANIC.
· T Day minus 5 days – Receive notice from airline that flight has been rescheduled. It now leaves at 3:45 AM.
· T Day minus 2 days – Try on suitable clothes for being centre of attention. Suck in belly. Sigh heavily.
· T Day – Get up early; drive to airport; pay enormous amount for long-term parking; wait hours to board plane; wait more hours for plane to depart.
· Duration of Book Tour: Have fun, meet people and talk about books and writing.

Vicki and Deborah Turrell Atkinson are visiting Hawaii and the western U.S. to promote their new mysteries, Valley of the Lost and Pleasing the Dead. Details can be found at Booktour (www.booktour.com/author/vicki_delany) Vicki’s trailer for Valley of the Lost is on Youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOJ4m391LZQ