Category Archives: Mysteries

Mysteries

Another Five-Book Day

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

The most common questions readers (and many writers) ask me are:

When and where do you write?

How many words do you write a day?

How long does it take you to finish a book?

Those simple questions have complicated answers, and today is a good example of why.

As usual, my writing day began in early morning. I’m finishing the first draft of Show Me the Door, and I wake up thinking about what’s going to happen.

My priority for the day, however, was writing a disguised bibliography for Thunder Beneath My Feet. I need to deliver it, a bio, and a couple other little things to the publisher by Friday. I started on the bibliography about 8 a.m., sorting my long-neglected files in the living room so I wouldn’t have to spread them out in my office.

Nuggets I’d saved came to light, giving me a possible start on planning a sequel and ideas on promotion. The research done and content choices made, I spent most of the morning in writing the two-page piece.

After a lunch/news break, I edited that and the three other shorts and emailed them to my critiquers for comment.

Around 2:30 I made a quick trip to the pharmacy to renew a prescription. With the traffic light, I thought about when to write and post a blog about the June release of the paperback edition of Show Me the Murder. My copies arrived yesterday.

Back at home, I relaxed in my recliner with pad and pencil to make notes for a crucial interrogation in Chapter 26 of Show Me the Door.

 Back to the office to read comments on my Thunder notes, followed by a supper/news break in front of the TV, an errand, and back to the office to read critiquers’ comments and revise the bibliography.

About 9:30 p.m. I did a quick email check. The prize: the Five Star designer’s image of the cover of Show Me the Ashes. Huge relief. I like it. I really like it. I sent the editor an email saying so.

By golly, I thought. That makes five books I’ve worked on today, each one at a different stage in the writing-publishing-marketing continuum. I should blog about that.

I don’t know how many words I wrote or how many total hours I spent or what percentage of my work time I spent in bed, in the living room, in the office, or moving around. I do know I had a productive day.

It’s 10:30 p.m., and I’m tired.

—Carolyn Mulford

Show Me the Gold Wins Award

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

The Missouri Writers’ Guild gave Show Me the Gold the “Show Me” Best Book Award April 11 during the Guild’s leadership conference in Columbia. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry collections, and scripts were eligible for the award.

Published in December 2014, Gold is the third book in my mystery series, and my third book to receive the Guild’s recognition. Last year Show Me the Murder won the Walter Williams Major Work Award.

The conference marked the hundredth anniversary of the Guild’s founding during Journalism Week at the University of Missouri.  An internationally known journalist and educator, Williams founded the world’s first school of journalism in 1908 and led the way in establishing the Guild in 1915.

In 2015, conferees broke into small groups to discuss the issues the 17 chapters’ representatives deemed most critical as the Guild begins its second century. The conference ended with work on action plans.

—Carolyn Mulford

Book Launch for Show Me the Gold

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

Readers, writers, and others with nothing better to do are invited to come celebrate the publication of Show Me the Gold at 2 p.m., Saturday, January 24, Columbia Books, 1907 Gordon Street, Columbia, Missouri.

We’ll have conversation and refreshments before and after a short presentation. I’ll talk for a few minutes about how the series has developed and why mystery writers and readers like series. I may even look ahead to book four (now beginning the production process) and book five, now in the early chapters of the first draft.

And, of course, guests can ask questions about the books or the writing of them. We had a stimulating Q&A at the book launch for Show Me the Deadly Deer a year ago.

The host, Columbia Books, is an independent bookstore that sells new, used, and antiquarian books and small items with special appeal to booklovers.

To get there from East Broadway, turn north on Old 63 (just east of Boone Hospital), and in about a mile turn right on Gordon. If you approach on Business 70 East, turn south on Old 63 (a little east of Paris Road) and in .2 mile turn left onto Gordon.

—Carolyn Mulford

Different Readers, Different Reviews

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

More reviews of Show Me the Gold went online this week, and the difference in comments from those who had read the first two books and who had read only the third one struck me.

In a brief review on the January 7, 2015, Bibliophilic Books Blog, Star noted that Gold has good characters and an interesting mystery and reads very well as a standalone. She added, “I could have gained more insight into the characters from reading the other books in this series.” To read the full review, go to

http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/2015/01/book-review-show-me-gold-by-carolyn.html.

I hope her readers follow her advice and read Show Me the Murder and Show Me the Deadly Deer, too.

A similar remark came from P.J. Coldren in a much longer review in the January issue of  Reviewing the Evidence. She wrote, “There is enough back story to move the reader along, and yet not quite enough— this makes most readers want to go back and read the first two in the series.”

Coldren saw familiar traits in the characters. She wrote, “Connie, the third member of this long-standing trio, seems to take turns aiding and abetting Annalynn, then Phoenix; who doesn’t have a friend like this?” To read the entire review, go to http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=10204.

Judy Hogan, who reviewed the first two books, noted, “This is a fast read, but I like the slower scenes best, where we learn more about the characters. Each book in the series reveals more about the trio of women. Fortunately novel four is already in the works.”

Like many reviewers, she didn’t neglect the canine hero: “The dog Achilles continues to add a wonderful human tone to these novels, as do the various minor small town and rural characters.”

Her review ran January 11, 2015, on http://postmenopausalzest.blogspot.com.

One of the reasons readers and writers like series is the chance to get to know the ongoing characters and watch them change.

—Carolyn Mulford

 

Guest Blog About Phoenix Plus Giveaway

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

To introduce Show Me the Gold to potential readers and give a bonus to the regular ones, I wrote “A Day in the Life of Phoenix Smith” for Dru’s Book Musings (http://drusbookmusing.com).

If you leave a comment on my blog by January 11, 2015, you may win a free copy of the book.

Here’s how the story of a typical day for Phoenix begins.

 

Achilles licked my hand to remind me to get up and take him on our morning run.

I sat up before my hyperactive Belgian Malinois could lick my face.  “Sorry I overslept, boy. My souvenir of Istanbul kept me awake.” I touched the still-tender bullet wound that marked my last CIA mission.  No twinges. Across the hall, Annalynn’s bed was made and her windows closed. She’d gone to the sheriff’s department early to cajole deputies into taking extra shifts, and she always fed Achilles before she left.

 

To follow Phoenix and Achilles through the day and comment for a chance at the giveaway, go to http://drusbookmusing.com. Dru posted the story January 4, 2015.

You may want to cruise around the site and read some of the other writers’ stories, too.

—Carolyn Mulford

Reviewers Value Books’ Characters

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

Yesterday two reviewers gave me an early Christmas gift, appreciation of the people who inhabit Show Me the Gold, the newly released third volume of my mystery series.

In Living on the Page: Personal Journal of Author Sandra Parshall, the Agatha winner wrote, “The plot has enough twists, turns, and blind alleys to keep readers turning pages, but the greatest strength of Carolyn Mulford’s writing is her gift for creating likable characters with the kinds of flaws that make us all human. … Highly recommended for readers who love character-driven stories with realistic small town settings.”

If you need a model for writing book reviews, read this one and others at http://livingonthepage.blogspot.com/2014/12/review-show-me-gold.html.

Few newspapers give space to writers these days, but Columbia Tribune arts reporter Amy Wilder surveyed the local scene literary scene in “Missouri scribes fill shelves with varied volumes.” She even read Show Me the Gold before she interviewed me.

She focused on the fast pace, the sense of place, and my characters. She wrote, “Mulford is interested in, and draws a lot of inspiration from, social dynamics she has observed in people throughout her life — both while she lived and worked abroad and at home.

“While many things have changed” since the author left Missouri decades ago, “I don’t think people have changed very much,” she said. “I didn’t have an awareness of as many of the strains of Missouri life as a child, as I do as an adult — particularly as an adult who’s come back; you see a place more clearly when you return to it after being away.”

You can read the full article at http://www.columbiatribune.com/arts_life/ovation/missouri-scribes-fill-shelves-with-varied-volumes/article_4a7f2a0d-7e14-5858-86b1-ecff2f4e7041.html.

Those two perceptive reviewers made December 21 a great day for me.

—Carolyn Mulford

Library Journal and Gumshoe Like Show Me the Gold

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

One of the most important reviews for any author comes from the Library Journal. With Show Me the Gold to be released December 17, I started searching for the review, only to discover it came out October 1, 2014.

I’d missed two months of feeling good. The reviewer, librarian Viccy Kemp, put Phoenix Smith in the company of three of my favorite mystery protagonists: Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone, Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone, and J. A. Jance’s Joanna Brady. Those three writers pioneered in introducing intelligent, tough female investigators.

Here’s the review: “Ex-spy Phoenix Smith and Sheriff Annalynn Keyser respond to a call from a neighboring county in rural Missouri and kill two bank robbers trying to escape an abandoned farmhouse. Now they are the No. 1 targets of the surviving members of the Cantree clan. The third entry (after Show Me the Deadly Deer) in this character-driven series will intrigue fans of female PIs such as Sharon McCone, Kinsey Millhone, or Joanna Brady.”

The December issue of Gumshoe Review delighted me by posting two reviews. Both reviewers gave the nod not only to Phoenix and her two old friends but also to her canine sidekick, Achilles.

Verna Suit concluded, “The complex plot of Show Me the Gold finds Phoenix getting into lots of tight corners as she hunts down the elusive Cantrees. Frequently she is saved at the last second by the alertness of her Belgian Shepherd, Achilles, who easily earns his place in the series’ cover art. This very satisfying book traces the exploits of a 50-something single woman creating a new life for herself in small-town America; a CIA agent’s second act.” (See http://www.gumshoereview.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4513.)

Mel Jacob focuses on how Phoenix and her friends, Acting Sheriff Annalynn Keyser and singer/musical comedy director Connie Diamante, deal with crime and personal problems and what Achilles contributes. Jacob endorses Show Me the Gold by writing, “Readers will be looking forward to [the] next installment on Phoenix, Annalynn, Connie, and, of course, Achilles.” (See http://www.gumshoereview.com/php/Review-id.php?id=4682.)

Nothing beats knowing that readers enjoy my books.

—Carolyn Mulford

“Aura of Death” Published in That Mysterious Woman

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

Experience has taught Jessica to keep secret her ability to see character-revealing auras. When an inexplicable cloud over a murder victim’s grave leads her to a killer, her unusual perceptions pose a dilemma and place her in danger.

I tell this tale in “An Aura of Death,” one of 27 short stories that appear in That Mysterious Woman, a new Shaker of Margaritas anthology published by Mozark Press in paperback and e-book editions (available on Amazon). Among the other writers are Paula Benson, E. B. Davis, Sharon Woods Hopkins, Edith Maxwell, Harriet Sackler, and Donna Volkenaant. The writers come from around the country and tell a variety of tales.

I write few short stories, and rarely anything that includes a supernatural element, but the idea of identifying a cold-blooded murderer and having no way to prove his guilt intrigues me. So does the ability, or burden, of seeing auras, which stems from a neurological condition called synesthesia.

Maybe some day Jessica will see another disturbing aura.

—Carolyn Mulford

Kirkus Praises Show Me the Gold

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

“Mulford confronts her troupe of reluctant crime solvers with plenty of action and a few surprises.”

So ends Kirkus Reviews’ 300-word review of Show Me the Gold, the third mystery in my Show Me series. Five Star/Gale, Cengage releases the hardback and e-book editions December 17.

As usual, Kirkus is the first pre-publication reviewer. The publisher sends paperback uncorrected proofs (often called advanced reader copies—ARCs) to national review publications three to four months before the release date.

I send out copies to my own list, which consists mostly of bloggers and newsletters. Few newspapers today carry staff-written book reviews. The reviews, and some interviews, that I generate will come later. So will comments on such sites as GoodReads and Amazon.

That later response makes the first review from a well-respected magazine particularly special.

The entire Kirkus review is posted at https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/carolyn-mulford/show-me-the-gold/.

—Carolyn Mulford

Show Me the Gold Giveaway on Goodreads

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

Want a chance to win an advance copy of Show Me the Gold? 

I’m offering five copies on Goodreads.com from now until November 29. If you’re not a member of this huge site for readers, you’ll have to join (pretty simple) before you can sign up for the giveaway.

If you’re already a member, go to https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22945313-show-me-the-gold.

The third book in my series, Show Me the Gold will be released in hardback and e-book December 17. You can read chapter one and a summary on this site (go to Show Me Mysteries).

—Carolyn Mulford

The Fun Starts Before the Writing Begins

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

This is part of the September 2014 Sisters in Crime (SinC) Blog Hop. Authors answer one of several questions. I chose to write about what part of the writing process I enjoy most.

The writing process breaks into three parts: coming up with the idea, writing the first draft, and revising until ready for readers.

Each part of the process delights and frustrates me because each one stimulates a different part of my intellect and emotions. For plain old fun and excitement, though, nothing beats that first step of choosing a story’s building blocks—usually who, what, and where.

Any of the three may spark an idea, but most sparks soon go out. Writing an 85,000-word mystery takes real commitment. My enduring ideas integrate characters, plot, and setting into a story I can’t resist telling either because I can’t imagine how it will end or, more often with mysteries, because I can imagine the ending but not how the characters will get there. Whichever it is, if I don’t think the journey will entertain and satisfy me, I won’t put words on paper.

Here’s how the three building blocks came together for my Show Me series. The idea for the protagonist sprang from a news story about an outed CIA covert operative, drew on my personal experiences in living abroad, and crystallized as I planned to move back to my home state, Missouri, after being away for decades. I had my major ongoing characters and the setting in a struggling rural county.

What took more time was working out a plot that fit the major characters and the setting. I don’t know either the people or where they live thoroughly until I’ve written many pages, of course, and they change somewhat from book to book, but I had to acquaint myself with their goals, flaws, and major personality traits before I wrote the first words of Show Me the Murder.

Some writers know their characters instantly because they and their friends are the characters. I don’t find myself interesting enough to appear in my fiction. While some of my friends and family members would qualify, I wouldn’t expose what makes them so interesting to the world. I create my characters from scratch, blending pieces of hundreds of people I’ve known to create complicated beings who intrigue and amuse me. I revel in exploring the motivations, reactions, and attitudes  of those who come to life on the page.

I approach setting in much the same way. I don’t stage a crime in a real place, but I try hard to reflect the region’s cultural and economic environment, including speech patterns and attitudes.

Ideas for plots often come from conversations with people around me and the local news. That includes not just crimes (e.g., meth cooking and importation in Show Me the Murder and rustling in Show Me the Deadly Deer) but economic and social problems (e.g., elder abuse in Show Me the Gold and racism in Show Me the Ashes, the upcoming books in the series).

Another factor to consider is whether the characters and setting will foster plots that will interest me, and readers, over several books. A part of the challenge is to find an idea you can expand on with pleasure and for profit for years.

—Carolyn Mulford

For other SinC Blog Hops, go to Judy Hogan’s  http://postmenopausalzest.blogspot.com (posted September 21, 2014), and Maya Corrigan’s “Writing While I Sleep” at  http://mayacorrigan.com/smorgasblog (postied September 21, 2014).

Harlequin Will Publish My First Mystery in Paperback

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Harlequin Worldwide Mystery has acquired the right to publish the mass market paperback edition of Show Me the Murder.

The first book in my mysteries series, Murder came out in hardback in February 2013 and as an e-book in August 2013. Harlequin hasn’t set a release date, but the paperback probably will come out in mid or late 2015. The words will be the same, but the cover will be new.

Harlequin Worldwide Mystery issues a number of paperback reprints each month, and many of those books are sold to subscribers to its club (http://www.book-club-offers.com/worldwide-mystery/).

Why didn’t the original publisher put out the paperback edition? Five Star/Gale, Cengage doesn’t buy those rights. My contract called for the rights to the hardcover, trade paperback (larger than mass market paperback), large print, and e-book editions. I retained (but could not sell for one year after publication of the hardcover edition) the film, foreign print, audio, and mass market rights.

I’m open to an offer for film rights.

—Carolyn Mulford