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Carolyn Mulford

Carolyn Mulford

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Monthly Archives: February 2012

New Madrid Earthquakes Remain a Mystery

Carolyn Mulford Posted on February 20, 2012 by CarolynFebruary 20, 2012

New Madrid Earthquakes Remain a Mystery

No one knows what caused a series of major earthquakes centered near New Madrid, Missouri, and felt in much of the eastern United States 200 years ago, according to geologists at the “It’s Your Fault” conference, University of Missouri, February 18, 2012.

I attended to hear whether any new information would affect my Thunder Beneath My Feet manuscript (nothing did) and when to expect the next big ones (no one knows).

Experts can tell big earthquakes occurred in the state’s southeast corner about 1450 and 900 and at similar intervals for 5,000 or so years. They don’t know whether other catastrophic quakes are coming in 300 years, 50 years, or never. Some theorize that the few modest quakes and countless tremors since 1812 are aftershocks that will eventually end.

Professor Eric Sandoval, a member of the Missouri Seismic Safety Commission, called the New Madrid seismic zone one of the most difficult to understand on the planet. Located in the middle of—rather than on the boundary of—a tectonic plate, this zone doesn’t fit the models that apply in most of the world, including California.

New Madrid resembles a seismic zone in northern China, said Professor Mian Liu. Models indicate low hazard, but quakes have killed hundreds of thousands. He emphasized that over a few centuries quakes in such zones may occur in different locations. Why? Nobody knows for sure. Recorded history deals with only a fraction of earthquakes, and much of what happens deep beneath the earth’s surface remains a mystery.

I live about 300 miles from the New Madrid earthquake epicenter, close enough for a 7.+ quake to bring down chimneys and spires. Until geologists find more clues to the mystery, I won’t know whether my quake insurance makes sense.

Posted in Uncategorized

Show Me the Murder Comes Out in 2013

Carolyn Mulford Posted on February 17, 2012 by CarolynJanuary 28, 2013

The first book in my Show Me mystery series will be published in February 2013 by Five Star, an imprint of Thorndike/Gale/Cengage.

Moving a book from initial idea to print distribution takes years. For me, the most exciting part of the process is writing the first draft. I also enjoy rewriting to shape the whole, to strengthen each chapter, to add punch to each scene, to find the exact word or phrase. The next three to five passes, when I try to function as an editor, don’t thrill me so much.

As Show Me the Murder wends its way through the publisher’s editorial, design, and production process, I’ll polish the second book in the series and entertain myself by writing the third.

Posted in News, Uncategorized

Writing with Water

Carolyn Mulford Posted on February 14, 2012 by CarolynFebruary 14, 2012

Near the lake that cools the Summer Palace in Beijing, a tall man with a wet mop wrote something in large Chinese characters.

This mystery writer’s first thought: “What a clever way to write a message that would disappear before authorities could gather evidence.” I scrambled to take out my camera and get a shot.

My second thought: “Can’t be anything subversive. Too risky in such a public place.” I asked our tour guide what the man had written. She glanced at the characters and said, “Something about tourists and peace.”

I could tell she was lying, but since I don’t read Chinese and don’t make scenes in China, I didn’t challenge her.

When I returned to the States, I showed a Taiwan-born friend the photo. She couldn’t read all the characters, but one part said something about birth and another about the coming of autumn breezes. She explained that when the man took water from the lake in his bucket, he also mixed in a little oil.

What the photo shows is a form of performance art. I suspect he’s demonstrating his calligraphic skills by quoting or composing a poem, not a political statement.

I still like the idea of using writing with water in a mystery.

Posted in Uncategorized

Quiz Celebrates Lincoln as Man of Mystery

Carolyn Mulford Posted on February 12, 2012 by CarolynFebruary 14, 2012

Maya Corrigan celebrates the connection between Abraham Lincoln and Edgar Allen Poe, his contemporary, with a timely quiz on her website, Maya Corrigan: The Fine Art of Mystery (http://www.mayacorrigan.com/mystery-trivia-all-about-lincoln.html).

I particularly enjoyed the surprise in the last question.

If you like mysteries and trivia, test yourself on Maya’s other quizzes, called Five Clues and a Red Herring. She posts a new quiz each month.

Posted in Uncategorized

Latest Postings


Why we needed Title IX before 1972

Carolyn Mulford Posted on July 5, 2022 by CarolynJuly 5, 2022

The fiftieth anniversary of Title IX, a landmark law requiring gender equality in schools receiving federal funds, reminded me of how little opportunity to play sports most females of my generation had. (Title IX changed much more than sports, but that’s another story.) In my one-room school with roughly a dozen students in grades one through eight, we had no organized physical education program for girls or boys. We played together at recess and noon, mostly baseball or games involving some form of tag. Our entire sporting equipment consisted of two bats, a softball, a baseball, and a volleyball (used for … Continue reading →

Posted in The Feedsack Dress, Uncategorized

Concert Jogs Memories of Vienna

Carolyn Mulford Posted on January 2, 2022 by CarolynFebruary 7, 2022

Memories interrupted my enjoyment of the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s concert broadcast last night on PBS. Unlike my Show Me protagonist, a CIA covert operative embedded in Vienna, I lived there only three years, but we shared a love of the city’s music. I went to the opera, an orchestra concert, chamber music, an operetta, or some other musical performance once or twice a week. Tickets were cheap, particularly if you were willing to sit in the balcony directly above a chamber orchestra using the instruments in vogue when the music was composed centuries ago. You could usually get a … Continue reading →

Posted in News, Uncategorized

New Sinister Snowman Edition

Carolyn Mulford Posted on March 8, 2021 by CarolynFebruary 7, 2022

Covid-19 stopped printers cold last spring. Consequently, the mass market paperback edition of Show Me the Sinister Snowman missed its slot in the printing queue. With the snow gone (until next winter, I hope), Harlequin Worldwide Mystery has just released the fifth book in the Show Me series.     This one finds Phoenix and friends trapped in an isolated mansion by a blizzard. Their housemates are aspiring political candidates and potential donors, one of whom intends to lessen their number before the roads clear. Phoenix has come to the meeting with two goals: to support Annalynn’s electoral dreams and … Continue reading →

Posted in News, News releases, Show Me Series

Memories Sparked The Feedsack Dress

Carolyn Mulford Posted on March 1, 2021 by CarolynMarch 1, 2021

When I began writing The Feedsack Dress almost 50 years ago, I asked my mother and two sisters to talk about their memories of 1949. I’d chosen that year for the novel because my recollections and my research identified it as a time of transition for the country, our rural Missouri community, and our family. Our discussion evoked many forgotten details and produced a major plot point. We gathered around the kitchen table at my parents’ farm on a hot summer day. To my surprise, each of us remembered not only different movies and music but also different versions of events, … Continue reading →

Posted in Historicals, News, The Feedsack Dress

Earthquakes on My Mind

Carolyn Mulford Posted on December 16, 2020 by CarolynDecember 16, 2020

2020 has been a horrible year. I hope it doesn’t end like another bad year, 1811. That year, rains brought mud and flood to Upper Louisiana. The nightly appearance of the devil-tailed Great Comet prompted rumors of destruction. The brilliant Tecumseh campaigned for tribes on both sides of the Mississippi to unite to beat back the encroaching Americans. The adolescent United States crept closer to the War of 1812. Then a natural disaster struck the middle of the newly expanded United States. In early morning on December 16, a series of earthquakes, aftershocks, and tremors began, interrupting New Madrid’s French … Continue reading →

Posted in Thunder Beneath My Feet

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