Part 1: Three Writers’ Conferences Serve Different Audiences

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At local meetings and on national listservs, writers often ask for advice about which conferences to attend. Having attended many, I can only say that the best conference depends as much on what the writer seeks as what the conference offers. This spring, with promoting Show Me the Murder my top priority, I chose three annual conferences serving different audiences: Missouri Writers’ Guild conference for writers with varied interests, Malice Domestic 25 national convention for mystery fans, Marshall (MO) Writers’ Guild workshop for their members.   Here, in Part 1, is what the state conference offered. This estimable annual three-day … Continue reading →

What’s Right About Second Graders’ Writing

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In the 1950s, television threatened to divert children from reading. In the 1990s, the Web tempted tender minds to abandon linear reading and writing. In the last decade, portable multimedia, omnipresent (and often mindless) communication, and misspelled texting further endangered literacy. Thinking of this descent into darkness, I dreaded opening my assigned selection of second graders’ stories, essays, and poems. I had agreed to comment on their award-winning work during Young Authors’ Day at the University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg. What if their writing was, well, dreadful? I needn’t have worried. These kids show a surprising grasp of the art … Continue reading →

Back to My Roots in Kirksville

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Can you go home again? I’m going back to my hometown Saturday, April 13, to talk about the origins of my new mystery, Show Me the Murder, and visit from 2-4 p.m. with old and new friends at the Hastings, 1800 North Baltimore, 2-4 p.m. More to the point: Can a writer ever really leave home? Wherever I go, I carry my past with me. An unreliable memory may alter and even delete parts of it, but the essence of life experiences remains. No period affects us as much as our early years when we see things for the first … Continue reading →

Book Launch at Columbia Books 2 p.m., March 17

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“Made it.” Those words open Show Me the Murder. The protagonist, a former CIA covert operative, expresses her relief at reaching the sanctuary of her hometown in northern Missouri after surviving a shooting in the Istanbul spice bazaar. Those words also express my relief that the book, my first published mystery novel, finally is coming to library and store shelves. People will read it for entertainment rather than evaluation. I invite anyone interested to come celebrate with me at my book launch party at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 17, Columbia Books, 1907 Gordon Street, Columbia, Missouri (off Old 63 North just … Continue reading →

Schedule of Events: March-June 2013

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Book Launch Party: 2 p.m., Sunday, March 17 Columbia Books, 1907 Gordon Street, Columbia, Missouri Reading and discussion Open to all Young Authors’ Day: 9:30 a.m., Saturday, April 20 University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg Comments on second graders’ prize-winning work and a writing exercise The writers and their families Missouri Writers’ Guild Conference: Friday-Saturday, April 26-27 Sheraton Westport Hotel Lakeside Chalet, St. Louis Book signing, 4 p.m. Friday, 11:45 a.m., Saturday Annual regional writers’ conference Malice Domestic: Friday-Sunday, May 3-5 Bethesda, Maryland Malice-Go-Round, 10 a.m., Friday Panel discussion on loveable sidekicks, 9:45 a.m., Sunday Signing, 10:45 a.m., Sunday National conference … Continue reading →

Reviewer Calls Characters Appealing, Story Compelling

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Dozens of editors and publishers have rejected my nonfiction and (especially) fiction manuscripts over the years, so forgive me if I report some reassuring praise. In the February issue of Gumshoe Review Magazine of Mystery Literature, reviewer Verna Suit ended her review of Show Me the Murder with, “Phoenix is a can-do heroine and all three of the women are appealing characters. The reader cheers when Annalynn steps up to take control of her life. Plot and setting are convincing and the compelling story keeps one reading. I look forward to finding out what the future has in store for … Continue reading →

My Next Big Thing Blog Hop

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Week 32 is my stop on a blog hop set up to help readers discover authors new to them. On each stop, you’ll find an author’s answers to 10 questions about a book or a work in progress and links to three to five other authors. We include behind-the-screen tidbits about why we write and how we choose titles, characters, plots, themes, etc. My thanks to fellow author Thomas Kaufman for inviting me to participate in this event. To learn more about him and his work, click on this link:  http://thomaskaufman.com. Here are my answers to the questions of the … Continue reading →

Kirkus Reviews Show Me the Murder

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The first review of Show Me the Murder came from Kirkus Reviews, the venerable magazine that carries pre-publication reviews. The reviewer sums up by writing, “The first in Mulford’s planned series explores the unsettling rise of crime in rural areas and provides an amusing and touching look at the reunited gal pals.” The magazine reviewed 17 mysteries and 258 other books in the issue. You can read the entire review of Show Me the Murder on the website ((http://www.kirkusreviews.com/search/?q=Show+Me+the+Murder) or on page 33 of the January 1, 2013, issue (Vol. LXXXI, No.1). The book will be released February 15, 2013.

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Book review: Writing Teachers Will Relate to Mystery’s Setting

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Anyone who has taught a basic English or creative writing course will recognize some of the characters and situations in Killer Frost, a debut mystery by Judy Hogan. Most of the book takes place at a financially and academically distressed historically black college in North Carolina. An idealistic untenured professor wars against the  administration to bring ill-prepared but determined students up to standard and to give gifted ones a chance to soar. He brings in Penny Weaver, a dedicated white writer/teacher, to take over both the remedial and the creative writing classes. Hogan obviously knows both groups of students well, … Continue reading →

“Leftovers” Published in Humor Anthology

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I couldn’t resist the challenge: a call for humorous short stories featuring a resourceful woman dealing with a bad day. For me, short stories pop into the brain almost whole. Nothing popped, but I’d toyed with a vague idea for a new mystery series. I decided to test it in a short story. A lot of writers turn a chapter into a short story. I hadn’t written a chapter. Instead I developed a protagonist and a setting in backstory—what happens before the mystery begins. I submitted that short story, “Leftovers,” to Mozark Press for consideration for A Bad Hair Day, … Continue reading →

Problems on That Crucial First Page

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Many agents and editors receive so many manuscripts that they reject most without reading all of the first page. We have to grab them fast. Three small publishers—Linda Fisher of Mozark Press, Lou Turner of High Hill Press, and Yolanda Ciolli of AKA-Publishing—offered off-the-cuff evaluations of eleven anonymous first pages at the 2012 conference of the Columbia Chapter of the Missouri Writers’ Guild. Although they expressed personal preferences, they agreed on the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscripts. Here’s how we conducted our one-hour First Page session. Interested conference participants emailed their submissions to me, each double-spaced page labeled fiction … Continue reading →

Milking When the Power Went Off

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Hurricane Sandy brought death and destruction to the East Coast last week. Millions who came through the storm unscathed still face an ongoing problem, the loss of electrical power. After a day or two, the lack of power went from an inconvenience to a hardship. Thinking back to the loss of power on our farm, I remembered that we got along pretty well. We had fresh vegetables in the garden and canned ones in the storm cave, chickens to provide eggs and fresh meat, a kerosene stove for summer cooking, and a good supply of lanterns. After all, we didn’t … Continue reading →