Adventure Film Festival

by Julia Buckley
Everyone would have a different list if I asked this question: what are the best suspense or adventure films of the last fifty or so years? The fun, though, is in compiling that list and remembering some truly fantastic films.

I was watching The Fugitive today with my sons and thinking what a well made, suspenseful flick it was, not to mention what great performances Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones delivered to ratchet up that suspense. I thought, if I had the time, that I would love to just sponsor my own mini-film festival for friends and family and show them the movies I think are great. Here's a list of what I think are the best, in order of release:

REBECCA (1940): It will surprise no one that my first four selections were all directed by Alfred Hitchcock. He dominated film and suspense in this time period, and Rebecca is still thrilling as the suspenseful tale of the woman who feels haunted by her husband's first wife. Joan Fontaine is fantastic and vulnerable as the new Mrs. DeWinter, and of course this is based on the novel by Daphne DuMaurier.



DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954): I was always a huge Grace Kelly fan (she appears in two movies in this list) and I never quite understood how Ray Milland, her husband in this movie, could plot to kill her when she is so obviously out of his league. :) But what fantastic suspense in this flick, directed by the great Alfred Hitchcock and backed by a score that has you squirming in your seat.

REAR WINDOW (1954): Is it possible that TWO men would ignore Grace Kelly? But in this classic Hitchcock suspense film (based on a short story by Cornell Woolrich), Jimmy Stewart's L.B. Jeffries has more on his mind than the flirtations of Lisa Fremont (Kelly), namely the murder the wheelchair-bound Jeffries thinks he witnessed across the street. Several homages have been made to this classic movie, the most recent of which is Disturbia.

NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959): Even if you've never seen the movie, you must have seen the legendary clip of Cary Grant running from the crop dusting plane in the middle of Midwestern nowhere. This movie is fun from start to finish, and Cary (whom my father for some reason always despised) was charming and sexy to me until the very end of us career (he only made six films after this one). This, too, is a Hitchcock film.

DIRTY HARRY (1971): This is in many ways still a shocking film, but it solidified Clint Eastwood's place in the echelon of action stars, and it's worth renting the flick just to see Harry Callahan take on a bank robber while eating a hot dog. And of course he says the now-famous words, "Do you feel lucky?"



THE STING (1973): This funny and stylish suspense film is set in 1930's Chicago, where two con men take on a mobster to avenge a mutual friend. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are fantastic here, and I love them even better as Hooker and Gondorf than I do as Butch and Sundance. The Sting is full of plot twists, and the first time I saw it I think my mouth was hanging open for most of the movie. (In amazement, that is).

ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976): Considering that much of the action never leaves the 1970s-era newsroom, this is still a surprisingly suspenseful and well-acted drama in which Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffmann play Woodward and Bernstein in the time that they were investigating Watergate and the mysterious dealings of CREEP members (the Committee to Re-Elect the President, that is). Nixon was re-elected, but he didn't last long before Woodward and Bernstein's investigation blew the case wide open and even Nixon's right-hand men couldn't protect him.

STAR WARS (1977): Nothing can duplicate the experience of seeing this in the theater for the first time, and as one who was a kid in 1977, I can attest that no dramatic experience has ever really blown me away to the extent that this space adventure did back then. I can never totally duplicate it, since videos and DVDs today have been altered by George Lucas, and I actually far prefer the original. But it still wears well, and my sons grew up watching Luke, Leia and Han battle the evil Lord Vader.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981): This, too, I saw debut in theaters, and I think I held my breath through this whole amazing Spielberg movie. Harrison Ford is in three of the movies on this list, and he really does deserve the title of adventure movie king. It's hard to imagine, now, that anyone else could have played Indiana Jones, and Spielberg has a gift for never stopping the action--not for a moment.

THE FUGITIVE (1993): See above.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (2002): I've watched this movie several times since it came out, and it's still a pleasure. Leonardo DeCaprio was a surprise in this demanding role, playing real-life con man Jack Abagnale,Jr. who led FBI agents on a wild goose chase all over the world and writing bad checks all the way. Tom Hanks is loveable in his role as Agent Carl Hanratty, who never gives up, even when his colleagues have given up on him.

THE INCREDIBLES (2004): This computer-animated gem is surprisingly suspenseful and visually beautiful. Directed by Brad Bird, it is fun, funny, scary and breathtaking. The voice talent helps a lot, led by the great Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter. It's not just for kids, and if you haven't seen it you are in for a huge treat.


THE BOURNE SERIES (2002-2007): Matt Damon became the new action star with this fantastic series of movies based loosely on the Robert Ludlum novels. They are stylish nailbiters with a hero who is loveable despite his robotic persona. He starts out as The Terminator but ends up as fragile and human as everyone else. The final movie left a chance for a fourth . . . let's hope.

Okay--that was a long list, but of course I've missed some great movies--I mean, we're looking at a seventy-year span here. So tell me: what are the great suspense films I haven't listed? Or which of the ones on this list are your favorites, too?

Caught in the Web(site)

Janet Koch is an engineering designer, a writer, a web products creator through her company, Deepwater Design and a pretty decent water-skier. Today she’s talking about website design. Next month Janet will be back to talk about book trailers.

PDD: This one always seems to come up: Does an unpublished writer need a website?

JK: Primary cautionary note: the following answers are my opinion and my opinion only. Secondary cautionary note: as I am only a budding web designer and book trailer producer, my opinions are not exactly being sought after by the new administration.

Does an unpublished writer need a website? As in I’m-gonna-kill-my-writing-career-before-it-starts-if-I-don’t-have-a-website? Nah. But there are reasons to go ahead and get started, even if you’re uncontracted and/or unagented.

First, becoming familiar with the whole business of creating a website is valuable. Whether you do it yourself or hire a designer, there’s a lot to learn. Waiting until two months before your publication date to get a site going isn’t a good idea.

Next, it’s an opportunity to get your name out there. Take Jeri Westerson. Long before her debut novel, Veil of Lies, was published, she’d established a web presence with a blog focusing on medieval history. By the time the book came out she’d already established a solid base of potential readers. Sure, that’s a blog, not a website, but the same principles apply.

Next, having a website provides instant credibility. Maybe only a teensy bit, but when dealing with the cold, cruel world of publishing, writers can use all the help they can get.

Last – it’s fun!

There are, of course, a couple of reasons for an unpublished writer NOT to have a website. If you can’t see the value of expending all that energy on putting together a site when you’re not even close to being published, don’t bother. And if the cost just flat out doesn’t fit into your budget, don’t worry about it. But I do advise spending ten bucks or so a year and reserving a URL in your name.

PDD: If someone doesn’t want a website now, but wants to be able to use their name as a URL someday. What should they do?

JK: Someday is now. For about ten bucks a year you can stake out your domain name claim with any number of registrars. Google “domain name registration” and you’ll be inundated with options. Go Daddy is popular. When you’re ready to pull the trigger, ask around for what your friends use. Just don’t forget to renew that domain name every year.

Fun fact: a URL (uniform resource locator) is the complete web address: http://www.yourname.com while a domain name is the www.yourname.com part.

PDD: What makes a good website, aside from content? What design elements entice visitors to look around?

JK: Um, you said aside from content, but in my opinion content is king. You must offer your users something of value. With that opinion out of the way ... getting people to look around means having good content. Oops. Said I was done with content, didn’t I? Sorry.

I’m not sure any particular design element is universally attractive. Jake over there might think a background grunge graphic with hidden links is way cool, but his mother might wince and make a mental note to avoid the site. A site designed with light pastel colors might appeal to Heather, but her boyfriend Tony wouldn’t be caught dead with that site on his laptop. Moral of the story? Know your audience.

No matter how you assemble your website, functionality is key. A user shows up at your site for a reason, so when designing a site you need to guess at all those possible reasons and make it easy for users to accomplish their goals. Steve Krug, website consultant, titled his classic book on web usability Don’t Make Me Think. And that kind of says it all.

But there’s no denying the Cool Factor. If you come up with something cool, people will flock to your site. The CF is that indefinable thing that makes you say, “Hey, that’s cool,” and pass the link to ten friends. Cool can vary from a slick animated Flash production to historic photos to a laugh-out-loud essay. Unfortunately, you can’t predict what’s going to be cool. I mean, post-1980, who would have guessed that bell-bottoms would ever again be considered cool?

PPD: You said, "You must offer your users something of value." What kinds of things can writers offer aside from book excerpts?

JK: The simplest offering is content that might be of interest to other writers. Essays are always good. Talk about the funny thing that happened when you started researching the history of chimneys. Talk about your original goals, your revised goals, your accomplished goals. Lists of links are good – links to your favorite conferences, links to helpful research sites, links to inspirational sites, a list of the blogs you read. Have a page listing your favorite novels. Have a page featuring your favorite writing books. Add reviews.

A better idea is to offer things of interest to the complete strangers out there who might become your readers. If your writing tends to feature Great Danes, add a page about Great Danes. If your manuscripts always seem to include an exploding house, add something about that. Post interesting facts about the setting for your WIP. Post photos you’ve taken for your Work In Progress. And keep adding information on a regular basis. New information draws new readers.

Bottom line: offering content of interest to writers is good, but offering good content to the greater world is even better. Build name recognition everywhere! And don’t be shy about adding a page about your chia pets. Anything you happen to be interested in, some other people are, too.

PDD: What things don't work on a website other than my personal pet peeve--red type on black background?

JK: If you Google “Website mistakes” you’ll find lists that include things like: slow-loading pages, low contrast pages, broken links, bad fonts, bad content, browser incompatibility, etc. Almost every item on these lists is saying the same thing: don’t design a webpage that annoys users.

What’s the most annoying? The biggest mistake of all -- making your website hard to use. I once came across a website that included a link to instructions on how to use the site. Please. How many people are going to take the time to read that? If a site doesn’t make itself clear about its purpose in life, users won’t hang around.

Second biggest mistake? Not providing the information users want. If someone is, say, trying to find your photo to paste into a conference brochure, having those photos buried at the bottom of your Pets page isn’t going to make that someone happy. Along those same lines, not providing contact information is a slow form of web-death.

Everyone has their pet peeves regarding websites. Some people hate music. Some people hate clever little animations. Some people can’t stand red type on black background. Just as there’s no book that every person on the planet likes, there’s no website design that everyone likes. What can you do? Get familiar with your target audience and make your site easy to use.

PPD: Do you have any examples of mystery writer websites that you think are particularly effective or well done?

JK: Joe Konrath’s site does a great job of presenting a tremendous amount of information in an orderly and easy to navigate way. Jenny Cruise’s site design perfectly presents the personality of her books. I love the photos of Paris that Cara Black has on her site, Isabel Allende’s home page is beautiful, and ... are you going to stop me or can I keep going?

PDD: When a writer--or anyone else--is looking for a website or book trailer designer what kinds of questions should they ask?

JK: First thing is to determine your budget. Falling in love with the designs of a firm that charges $2000 a site isn’t going to work out very well if $400 is the most you want to spend. Designer’s websites usually give at least a ballpark indication of the price range the firm typically charges.

(Have I said lately that everything I’m saying is opinion and opinion only? Yes? Good.)

Next, check the design firm’s portfolio of work, which should also be on their website. Poke around and, if you like what you see, try contacting a client or two. Ask if they’d mind if you ask a couple questions. If they don’t mind, see if you can get a feel for how happy they were with the firm, the design process, and the final product.

Other than that, I’d turn your question around. To get the website of your dreams, I think what’s more important than the questions you ask a designer are the questions a designer asks you, the potential client. There are probably an infinite number of ways for a designer to get at your dreams and I wouldn’t presume to say which way is best. But I do think a designer should spend time learning your likes, dislikes, preferences, tastes, and something about your personality. If you dress in, say, city black and wear hard-soled shoes that click-click-click, you’re probably not going to be happy with a site that, say, includes sidebar images of decorated outhouses.

One last piece of opinion: before you start looking for the perfect designer, spending some time thinking. Think about what you want to accomplish with your site. Think about who is going to visit your site and what they’ll want from it. Make some notes. Think some more. Your future website designer will bless you.

Thanks Janet. Join us next month (April 25) when Janet returns to talk about book trailers.

Spring has sprung??? Life and writing and other stuff . . .

By Lonnie Cruse


Way back in high school (when dinosaurs still roamed the earth) my friend Sandy would quote this little ditty to me every spring:

Spring has sprung
the flowers is riz
I wonder where
the birdies iz.

In spite of that, we stay in touch. Where was I? Oh, yeah, spring. And growing things.

Having flexed her mythical muscles in February with a huge ice storm that kept our area literally in the dark for anywhere from three days to three weeks, Mother Nature is now demonstrating how quickly she recovers. Rebounds. Whatever.

The neighbor a few houses up the road from us has a stand of Bradford Pear trees that were practically destroyed by the recent ice storm. Bradford Pear trees are notorious for splitting down the middle in ice storms and/or high winds, dropping both heavy and light branches in a circle on the ground. Personally, if you gave me a free Bradford Pear tree and hired someone to plant it, I'd have to politely (or possibly not so politely) decline. Did I mention they are notorious for splitting and dropping heavy limbs everywhere, in ice or wind? Anyhow, things have warmed up around here and the neighbor apparently hasn't found time to clean up yet, so when you drive by his place right now you see dead limbs in circles around his trees and the few pitiful branches that did survive are covered in beautiful white spring blooms. Spring is sprunging out all over as I type.

These Bradford Pear trees are VERY common in our area, and I have to admit, despite the major damage they seem to suffer every winter, they do their best to recover. Gotta love their spirit.

Several years ago, as spring was doing its annual sprunging, I spotted a large abandoned farm truck in the middle of a field. Vines had grown around and through openings in the truck, trapping it in the spot where someone parked and left it, who knows how long ago. The truck is held in place by something much smaller, but when the vines work together, they overcome.

That set me to wondering. How often are we, as writers or wannabe writers, held in place, kept from doing our jobs, writing our stories, by things much smaller, working together to stop us? Fear? Indecision? Procrastination? Laziness? Lack of faith in our abilities? Lack of focus? Life? And dare I type it? Old age?

Which brings me to my next point. Late bloomers. If you are "of a certain age" do you remember when you thought thirty was OLD? Sigh. But with so many Baby Boomers recently crossing the line from late fifties to early sixties, we now pretty nearly outnumber the "younger generation." And lest you be fooled by our complaints of aches and pains coupled with "I sure can't do the things I used to" trust me, we've learned to adjust, and you younger folks need to watch out for us.

I recently went into a local large discount store to shop and had to leap to safety in a side aisle when a fellow senior citizen whizzed by me in a motorized chair/shopping cart. And she wasn't the only person using that shopping method. I had to keep one eye on my shopping list and the other on the aisles due to multiple speeding seniors using motorized carts. And whose idea were those dangerous things, anyhow? Mercy! Okay, so I'm thinking of limping into the store so I can try one, myself. Hehehe.

So what is the ratio of older writers out there in the published world, anyhow? A member of Sisters In Crime recently asked on a discussion list who among the authors there were "late bloomers" in the area of writing and publishing their work. An amazing number of mystery writers appear to be, umm beyond our first blush of spring, so to speak. FYI, many of the writers you read and love (who have young sounding names, I might add) are near or at Social Security age. Receiving it, that is, not paying it in.

These are the folks who probably spent the last thirty or so years raising the next generation, working to feed and house said generation, and putting their own dreams on hold. Now we are retired, with much more time. Or at the very least, empty nesters with no little ones to care for 24/7. So we try things we haven't had time to do in decades, like ride a bike, play golf, take long walks, and write down our thoughts. Some of our thoughts are funny and some are downright scary. My hubby, for instance, is used to being asked if he sleeps with one eye open. Yeah. He is.

Have you always loved reading other people's writing but thought you couldn't write? Afraid the "journalism police" would kick in your front door and drag you off to jail? I was. Think you're too old? I did.

If you have a story to tell, then tell it. Then find a good critique group and let them help you get it ready to publish. Then send it out. Don't be afraid. You didn't get to be this age by being timid, did you? So take time out of that whizzing cart and write. And please, watch out for me when you're racing around in the store. I'm not as fast as I used to be. Jumping to safety on a spinning clothing rack can be difficult at this time of my life.

And if you'd rather stick to reading stories than writing them, please DO keep on reading. We writers NEED you.

As spring is sprunging into your area, I trust you are forging on, blooming in spite of damage the winter around you did to your psyche? Whatever your age or situation in life, don't let yourself be held in place by new vines shooting out from the old, ever wrapping themselves around you, paralyzing you in place. Just a few thoughts, about spring and about writing, or perhaps not writing.

May I just add that the daffodils were an extremely welcome sight this year, after the difficult winter we had? Hubby has pretty much cleaned up all the downed trees and limbs out back, and we can finally see our little sitting area where a couple of benches are located near the creek. We do, however, both need to learn our physical limits. We dug up and moved five VERY LARGE hostas to a better area last week, dividing them so they will spread out. And I dug up a few tiger lillys that were down near the creek where no one could see and/or enjoy them except the rabbits and deer and re-planted them up near the bench area so we can enjoy them. And, yes, I left plenty for the rabbits and deer. But by the time we were done relocating these plants, it was all I could do to get up three steps, into the house. The spirit is still willing, but the flesh is mighty weak. Whew. Wonder how one of those motorized shopping carts would work in our back yard? I'll get back to you on that. I hope.

Happy spring, everyone. Hope it's sprung where you are. Anyone seen the hummers yet?

Covers of 2008, Part 2

Here are some more covers from mysteries published in 2008. We put out a call for authors who loved their covers and got a great response. If you're eligible to vote for the Anthonys nominees (including the cover art category), you have a ballot that asks for your picks by author and title and also book format (hardback, trade paper, or mass market paperback). Authors can add format information as a comment at the end of this post. Or folks who want to vote for them to be nominated can check Amazon for the format. If you didn't see the first batch (Covers of 2008) last Thursday, March 19, you can find that post via the search box or scrolling down on the blog. Again, we're not connected in any way with the Anthonys--just giving as many covers as we can wider circulation.

Donna Andrews, Cockatiels at Seven and Six Geese A-Slaying



Rhys Bowen, A Royal Pain and Tell Me, Pretty Maiden



Libby Fischer Hellman, Easy Innocence


Sheila Connolly, One Bad Apple


Karen Olson, Shot Girl


Toni Kelner, Without Mercy


JL Wilson, Autographs, Abductions, and A-List Authors and Candy, Corpses, and Classified Ads



Leann Sweeney, Pushing Up Bluebonnets


Barbara Colley, Wash and Die


Charlotte Phillips, Hacksaw


CM Albrecht, Music


Franklin Levy, Die, Decorator, Die


Charlaine Harris & Toni Kelner, Wolfsbane and Mistletoe


Leslie Klinger, The New Annotated Dracula


Lois Carroll, Just A Memory


Maggie Bishop, Perfect for Framing


Marion Hill, Death Books A Return


Maryann Miller, One Small Victory


Nix Winter, The Silver Comb


Tony Wolfmont, Dying in a Winter Wonderland


Joanna Campbell Slan, Paper, Scissors, Death


Michelle Gagnon, Boneyard


RJ McDonnell, Rock & Roll Homicide


Larry Karp, The King of Ragtime


Deb Baker, Murder Talks Turkey (trade paperback)


LJ Sellers, The Sex Club


Michael Stanley, A Carrion Death



Mary Ellen Hughes, Paper-Thin Alibi


Elizabeth Zelvin, Death Will Get You Sober

Thank You

To Kaye Barley, who presented us with a Blog Sisterhood Award today (see our sidebar). We appreciate it, Kaye!

Mysteries with Extras

The winners of the free books are Sobaka, Margaret Franson, Sandra, Daryl a.k.a Avery, Kim, Lesa Holstine, and Gail Hueting. Please send your mailing address to sandraparshall@yahoo.com. Congratulations, and I hope you enjoy the books!


Sandra Parshall

When did mystery writers begin including recipes and/or useful tips for readers in their novels? These extras are so common now that it’s hard to pinpoint when the trend started.

Food has always been a favorite means of delivering poison, but it also figures prominently in traditional mysteries because this type of story usually has a domestic setting. Characters often drink tea, gnosh on cake or cookies, and sort out the facts of the case. What's different now is that readers expect to be given the full recipe for any food consumed in the book.

When I asked on internet mystery lists if anyone knew when recipes began appearing in novels, I received a lot of guesses and approximations but no definite answers. Several people said Dianne Mott Davidson was among the first to include recipes and that she had to talk her publisher into allowing it. Liz Zelvin and a couple of others pointed out that Virginia Rich included recipes in the front and back of her mysteries, which debuted with The Cooking School Murders in 1982. Nero Wolfe was a gourmand, and Rex Stout’s novels have a lot of food in them. The Nero Wolfe Cookbook, giving recipes for dishes featured in the novels, was published in 1973 and remains a favorite of many cooks, but the recipes were not included in the novels.

As for craft cozies with patterns, one avid mystery reader said that Crewel World by Monica Ferris, published in 1999, was the first novel she remembered seeing that included a needlework pattern. All craft cozies now feature patterns or tips, and the trend has expanded to include cleaning and decorating tips and advice of every kind. If a protagonist has a special skill, she must share it with readers.

Why? It’s a marketing ploy, of course, and primarily an American one. (Although the cozy was born in Britain, few mysteries of that type are produced by British authors now. M.C. Beaton writes cozies, but she doesn’t include recipes in her Agatha Raisin books. Considering Aggie’s ineptitude in the kitchen, that’s probably just as well.) Mystery lovers buy books for the stories and characters, but in a crowded market, the extras may entice readers and persuade them that they’re getting more than a good mystery for their money.

Here are a few recent cozies that have distinctive characters and settings but follow the trend toward giving readers something extra.

Turn Up the Heat (hardcover 2008, paperback 2009) by Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant, is part of the Gourmet Girl series and has 22 pages of recipes, some of them contributed by professional chefs. The heroine, Chloe Carter, is helping her chef boyfriend get his new Boston restaurant off to a good start when one of the waitresses is found dead in a fish truck. Booklist recommends Turn Up the Heat to “fans of foodie crime” and Publishers Weekly, in the language typically inspired by this kind of mystery, calls it a “delectable dish of detection.”

Death Takes the Cake, in the Della Cooks series by Melinda Wells, has 14 pages of recipes, most of them for cakes that sound delicious and look easy. Della Carmichael is owner of a cooking school and star of a new cable cooking show. In an attempt to boost her ratings, Della enters a televised cake competition sponsored by Reggi-Mixx, which happens to be owned by Della’s old college nemesis. When people warn her that competitive pastry-making is a blood sport, they’re not kidding, as Della discovers when someone is drowned in a bowl of cake batter. Because a friend’s husband is suspected, Della is determined to solve the crime and clear his name.

Fatal Flip is the March 2009 entry in Peg Marberg’s Interior Design Mysteries. No recipes here, but at the back of the book you’ll get tips on living in an old Victorian house and decorating a house to make it more attractive to buyers. The whole book is an education in “flipping” – the business of purchasing fixer-uppers, restoring them, and selling them. Marberg’s heroine, Jean Hastings, is a small-town decorator who is recruited by the local Fast Flippers to decorate one of their projects. Soon enough, one of the Flippers turns up dead and Jean sets out to find the culprit.


In Corked by Cabernet (2009) and A Vintage Murder (2008), author Michele Scott includes recipes between chapters as well as at the end of the books, and recommends wines to go with the dishes. The heroine, a former actress named Nikki Sands, is manager of a Napa Valley vineyard, and the reader learns something about wine-making while Nikki is solving some inconvenient murders.

Eggs in Purgatory (December 2008) by Laura Childs is the first book in the Cackleberry Club series by an author already popular for her tea shop and scrapbooking mysteries. The Cackleberry Club is a cozy café created by friends Suzanne, Toni, and Petra after they all lose their husbands to either death or divorce. Not long after the café opens, Suzanne’s lawyer is found murdered out back. The murder exposes a scandalous secret involving Suzanne’s late husband and brings a refugee from a cult into her life. At the back of the book you’ll find recipes for the dishes Suzanne serves her customers while she’s trying to find the link between her dead husband and the cult.

Suzanne Price's Notoriously Neat (April 2009), third in the Grime Solvers series, contains the kind of tips I desperately need but am too lazy to use. The protagonist, Sky Taylor, is a professional cleaner in the town of Pigeon Cove, and throughout the book excerpts from Sky Taylor's Grime Solvers Blog offer advice for cleaning up all those nasty little messes that clutter our lives. The plot centers on the murder of Dr. Gail Pilsner, a popular Pigeon Cove veterinarian, and Sky's efforts to clear the animal hospital lab tech she believes is innocent.

If you’d like to enter a drawing for a free copy of one of these books, post your answers to the questions below in the comments section. If you have a strong preference for one or two of the books, let me know. Come back tomorrow and you’ll find the names of the winners posted at the top of this blog entry in red. After you look over the 2008 covers Liz will post tomorrow, scroll on down to find this entry.

Now my questions for you:

1. Does the inclusion of recipes or tips of various kinds make a cozy more attractive to you?

2. Do you look at the recipes and/or tips before you buy a book?

3. Have you ever bought a book because you wanted a particular recipe? If so, share! What recipe was it? And did you enjoy the mystery too?

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.