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Carolyn Mulford

Carolyn Mulford

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      • Show Me the Deadly Deer: Chapter One
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    • Show Me the Ashes
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    • Show Me the Sinister Snowman
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  • Thunder Beneath My Feet
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    • Chapter One: Thunder Beneath My Feet
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Missouri Writers Gather to Take the Next Step Nov. 10

Carolyn Mulford Posted on October 28, 2012 by CarolynOctober 28, 2012

Whether you’ve been published for years or want to expand beyond Twitter, the Columbia Chapter of the Missouri Writers’ Guild’s annual conference offers tips and tactics to help you improve your writing.

The conference, The Write Direction: Taking the Next Step, meets 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.  November 10 at the Unity Center, 1600 West Broadway, Columbia.

Award-winning writers will share their special skills and small publishers will tell how and why they select manuscripts. The sessions include

* Novelist Bridget Bufford on creating characters through archetypes,

* Nonfiction children’s author Matthew Murrie on finding your perfect pitch,

* Missouri poet laureate William Trowbridge on humor in serious poetry,

* Short story writer Donna Volkenannt on structuring stories for passion and profit.

Editors from Mozark Press, AKA-Publishing, and High Hill Press will explain their operations and, in a separate session, evaluate the first page of manuscripts submitted anonymously by conference participants.

To read the schedule and session descriptions and to register, visit the Conference page at http://www. ccmwg.org. Warning: Registration fees (members, $40; nonmembers, $45; students, $25) go up November 6.

Full disclosure: I helped organize the conference and will moderate the publishers’ sessions.

Posted in Uncategorized

The Publishing Process Nears the Final Stage

Carolyn Mulford Posted on October 20, 2012 by CarolynOctober 21, 2012

The Publishing Process Nears the Final Stage

My heart rate jumped last week when I received two boxes of advance readers’ copies, uncorrected page proofs of Show Me the Murder. Nine years after a news story sparked the idea for my protagonist and thirteen months after I submitted the manuscript to the publisher, the final product is only four more months away.

I will read (aloud) one last time for typos and begin sending out copies to local, regional, and special-interest reviewers. The publisher will send out review copies to national publications, correct any typos, and print books for release in late February.

A year and a half is a long time in this age of instant communication, but that’s standard in traditional publishing. Here’s the basic process.

The pitch: I described the book to an editor at Killer Nashville in August 2011. She invited me to submit it. 

Submission: I submitted the manuscript in September 2011. A few weeks later the editor told me she liked it and had sent it up the line.

Acceptance: The publisher offered me a contract in December 2011. The legal department asked for details on what real places, people, and products appeared in the book. My interpretation: The lawyers wanted to be sure I hadn’t libeled anyone.

Contract signed: January 2012.

Developmental editing: This step typically focuses on big-picture issues, but in February 2012 the editor and I spent more time (roughly two weeks) working on style questions. (Most publishers have their own style manual, usually a variation of the Chicago Manual of Style.)

Copyediting: This step focuses on consistency of style, but in May 2012  the editor also caught a couple of content errors (e.g., a person in the wrong room).

Proofing: I read the entire manuscript aloud to catch typos, missing words, and similar errors in July 2012.

Cover: An editor emailed me the image in September 2012.

Final proof/review copies: My copies arrived in October 2012. I hope to find no typos. Why send out uncorrected review copies? Because magazines operate with a three- or four-month lead time.

Release: February 2013.

Posted in Mysteries, Show Me Series, Uncategorized

An Interview with Elizabeth (the Great) Peters

Carolyn Mulford Posted on April 24, 2012 by CarolynOctober 16, 2012

Mystery fans are honoring Egyptologist Barbara Mertz, best known to them as Elizabeth Peters, author of the beloved Amelia Peabody mystery series featuring a strong-minded early archaeologist. Fellow authors will interview Barbara April 28 at the annual Malice Domestic Convention.

That reminded me that I interviewed her 20 years ago on how she made the transition from academic to accessible and entertaining nonfiction (look for Red Land, Black Land) and from nonfiction to genre fiction, first Gothics as Barbara Michaels and then mysteries as Elizabeth Peters. At that time (1991) she already had 50 books to her credit.

What she told me still applies, so a shortened version of the first of my two articles follows. It appeared in Writing Concepts, December 1991, under the head “Egyptologist tells how she writes as two novelists.”

 

Today Barbara Mertz is better known as Barbara Michaels and Elizabeth Peters, the authors of bestselling novels noted for strong story lines, well-defined characters, accurate settings and serious themes both masked and emphasized by humor.

Thinking back to the beginning of her writing career and the development of her writing style, Mertz says, “I’m a big reader. I think that’s probably the most important thing for anyone who writes—reading enormously. You end up being imitative at various stages of your life. You imitate the writers you admire.  I think that’s a useful stage, too. It teaches you some of the techniques of syntax and how to get an idea across. And eventually, one hopes, you develop your own style.”

Developing your voice takes time. She found hers in nonfiction much more easily than she did in fiction. Publishers rejected her first novels. She says, “I had not found my voice. It’s a rather pretentious terms, but I think it’s true that there’s a certain kind of thing that each person does well, and you can mess around trying this and trying that.”

You also need to learn what works, and sells, in your preferred genre. Mertz says, “You have this awful crisis between writing for the market and being totally cynical, giving up what you like to do just to sell something. … I think you have to consider the market, but I just don’t think anyone can write his or her best by playing solely to the market.

She broke in with traditional Gothics—“Victorian settings and spirits and haunted castles and that sort of thing.” Once established, she moved to modern settings and wandered from the formula. She found the restraint on humor frustrating.

So she became Elizabeth Peters, a mystery writer noted for her humor. The styles and content produced under the two names differ enough that many readers don’t realize that Michaels and Peters are the same person. Yet Mertz says she doesn’t consciously make her writing style fit the pseudonym.

Michaels and Peter strike different tones. “Peters is a lot sillier,” Mertz says. “I am more sarcastic, and the dialogue is, shall we say, sappier and more sardonic. The whole tone of the books, the commentary, is humorous, but I’m still talking about serious things. Most of the things I’m saying, whether they’re hidden under a guise of humor or not, are serious ideas. Definitely the Michaels books are more serious in tone. Peters makes fun of everything—of pomposity, of staid ideas, of prejudice.”

 

 

Posted in Mysteries, Mysterious Ways, Uncategorized

An Opportunity to Promote Reading

Carolyn Mulford Posted on April 1, 2012 by CarolynJanuary 28, 2013

The Missouri Center for the Book (MCB) board of directors elected me to a three-year term at the March meeting. Librarians and college professors dominate the 18-member board, so part of my function will be to work with the writing community.

MCB is an affiliate of the National Center for the Book, Library of Congress. In Missouri, the mission is to

  • bring together authors, publishers, librarians, scholars, teachers and readers;
  • promote the state’s literary heritage and community of the book;
  • promote public interest in books, reading and libraries;
  • strengthen and celebrate the role of books in the human endeavor;
  • recognize the contributions of Missourians involved in the literary arts.

As a child, I read any book I could get my hands on and longed for more. Books entertained and educated me and became a crucial part of my life. It’s an honor and an obligation to work to bring such experiences to others. 

Posted in News, Uncategorized

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

Why agents and editors stop reading

Carolyn Mulford Posted on September 1, 2011 by CarolynSeptember 2, 2011

Submit a perfect manuscript, advised a panel of agents and editors at Killer Nashville, a mystery writers’ conference held August 25-28, 2011.

The turmoil in the publishing world has made it even harder to persuade anyone to represent or publish your book. Agents and editors who find imperfections on the first page often dismiss the whole manuscript.

What makes them stop reading? Lots of things, according to agents Jill Marr of Sandra Dijkstra and Jeff Kleinman of Folio and editors Deni Dietz of Five Star and Martin Shepard of Permanent Press. A volunteer read aloud eight first pages submitted by conference participants. Each panelist called “Stop” when the reader reached something unacceptable. The reader finished only one full page.

I’ve grouped the panelists’ stoppers  in two categories: mechanics and content.

Mechanics

  1. Incorrect punctuation, usually a misuse of quotation marks
  2. Trite phrases, usually similes
  3. Overuse of adjectives or adverbs
  4. Weak verbs, particularly forms of to be and the passive voice
  5. Use of words the panelist regards as markers of poor writing, e.g., shrugged, just, barked (for said)
  6. Starting several sentences with the same word
  7. Using unfamiliar terms or abbreviations
  8. Calling a character by more than one name, e.g., Bill and William
  9. Overuse of a character’s name in dialogue, usually to remind the reader who’s talking

Content

  1. Beginning with description instead of action
  2. Boring
  3. Telling, not showing
  4. Giving unessential information
  5. Interrupting the narrative with backstory
  6. Incorrect facts and behavior, usually the character saying or doing something a person in that occupation wouldn’t in real life
  7. A lack of emotional engagement in the point-of-view character and subsequently the reader
  8. Giving information from the author’s rather than the character’s point of view, often in dialogue

All of the panelists stressed the importance of that last stopper. Oddly enough, the editors showed more tolerance for lapses than the agents.

All agreed an intriguing opening line could push them past minor faults.

Posted in Uncategorized

The Feedsack Dress Becomes an E-Book

Carolyn Mulford Posted on July 15, 2011 by CarolynJanuary 28, 2013

Paper or plastic? Now you can read The Feedsack Dress on either.

Cave Hollow Press issued the e-book edition of the middle grade/young adult historical novel in early 2011. Priced at $2.99, the new edition is one of online bookseller Barnes and Noble’s Nook Book offerings. Buyers can download it onto the Nook and various other e-readers, including iPad tablets, computers, and Android smartphones. You can get it here.

The paper edition ($7.95 plus shipping and handling) remains available from www.cavehollowpress.com and from Amazon.

Posted in News, Uncategorized

Carolyn Moderates Malice Domestic Panel

Carolyn Mulford Posted on July 15, 2011 by CarolynJanuary 28, 2013

For the third year in a row, Carolyn served as a moderator at Malice Domestic, a national convention for mystery readers and writers. The conference met April 29-May 1, 2011, in Bethesda, Maryland (http://www.malicedomestic.org/).

The panel’s topic was Indiana Jones Who? Adventure Mysteries. Four writers, Aileen Baron, Robin Hathaway, Maria Hudgins, and Sarah Wisseman, served on the panel.

Posted in News, Uncategorized

The Feedsack Dress Named Missouri’s Great Read

Carolyn Mulford Posted on July 15, 2011 by CarolynJanuary 28, 2013

The Missouri Center for the Book selected The Feedsack Dress, a middle grade novel by Carolyn Mulford, as the state’s Great Read at the ninth annual National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., September 26, 2009.

The Center for the Book, Library of Congress, distributed 10,000 national maps that young readers could take to the booths in the Pavilion of the States to receive stickers or stamps. On the back of the map,  The Feedsack Dress was listed as one of “52 Great Reads About Great Places.”

The Missouri State Teachers Association selected the book as part of the state’s Reading Circle Program for grades five to eight in 2008.

Midwest Book Review called the book “a charming, original, and deftly written novel by an author who has a readily discernible talent for storytelling and an impressive ability to make her readers care about her characters.”

Set in 1949, the novel focuses on the difficulties that 13-year-old Gail faces when she graduates from a one-room school and enters the ninth grade in town. She’s the only girl wearing a feedsack dress the first day of school, and this makes her a natural target for the mean queen. Every time Gail wears the feedsack dress, something awful happens. Her refusal to buckle and her defense of the mean queen’s other targets earn Gail an unwanted honor, leader of a revolt against the ruling clique.

Carolyn drew on experiences growing up on a farm near Kirksville, Missouri, in writing the book.

Carolyn has spent much of her career as a nonfiction writer and editor in the Washington, D.C. area. She now lives in Columbia, Missouri, and divides her time between writing fiction and nonfiction.

Posted in News, Uncategorized

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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

Summer Before Air Conditioning

Carolyn Mulford Posted on July 19, 2019 by CarolynJuly 19, 2019

Air conditioning keeps me comfortable during the current heat wave, but I remember how we tried to cool off when nothing but the movie theater was air conditioned. July and August approximated hell when I was a kid. No day was so hot that we wouldn’t work in the fields and the garden. Only the persistent breeze made the heat and humidity bearable. The steamy days heated the house, making it equally miserable. When we got electricity, fans helped a little. During the day the coolest place to be was in the shade of a big elm. (Sadly Dutch elm … Continue reading →

Posted in The Feedsack Dress

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