Mixing Memories and Research

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When I started writing The Feedsack Dress, my own memories of farm life and the ninth grade guided the plot, but I needed facts about life in 1949. I looked for them in the same places I would have if I were writing an article. At the library I wore out my eyes scrolling through microfilm copies of the Kirksville Daily Express and two great photo magazines, Life and Look. These answered such questions as the styles of dresses or skirts and blouses a fashionable ninth grader wore to school and how much they cost. Few girls wore jeans or … Continue reading →

Giveaway of New Show Me the Ashes Edition

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On May 7, Harlequin’s Worldwide Mystery will release a paperback edition of Show Me the Ashes, the fourth in my series featuring former CIA operative Phoenix Smith solving murders in rural Missouri. In this one Phoenix and friends, including Achilles, her Belgian Malinois, take on a cold case involving a coerced plea deal (far too common), a string of disturbing burglaries, and crippling bigotr The WM editors insisted on one editorial change from the original Five Star hardback and e-book editions: “Tramp” replaced “slut.” The covers of the paperback and hardback editions look nothing alike, which is also true of the covers … Continue reading →

Preparing for NaNoWriMo

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National Novel Writing Month, November, helps writers resist endless rewriting by supporting them in a mad rush to write 50,000 words, more than half the length of most novels. The majority of participants around the world fall short of the word count, but producing even a few thousand words may help a writer develop the habit of writing. Last week I gave a NaNoWriMo group some tips on getting off to a fast start on November 1. One of the best ways I know to write fast is to pre-write, to think about what you’re going to write before you face the … Continue reading →

Work Plan Progress Report

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At New Year’s I posted my work plan for 2018 and promised a progress report on my manuscript about a murder at a storytelling festival in North Carolina. My main characters in Caught by a Tale are a freelancer breaking into true crime reporting and her mother, a retired history teacher and aspiring storyteller. I chose the setting because I love these festivals, but writing about one has presented some tough technical problems, including making each of the tellers and their stories distinctive without slowing the narrative. I’m rewriting fairly heavily as I go, and I anticipate spending more time … Continue reading →

Vacationing with Jane Austen

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I first read Pride and Prejudice in ninth grade. I didn’t understand it, and her humor went right by me. I read it again in an English Lit class in college and loved it. Every few years I reread P&P, delighting in Jane Austen’s wry wit. I also have read her other five novels at least once, most of them fifteen years ago as I was planning a trip to England. I particularly enjoyed visiting Austen-related places in Bath and her last home in Chawton, where the small table at which she worked still sits by the window. Last year … Continue reading →

My 2018 Novel Work Plan

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On this day of hope, I like to plan my writing agenda for the coming year. January is prime writing time. The weather discourages me from going out, and the lack of distractions encourages creativity. I also sleep better snuggled under layers of covers. Tomorrow I stop thinking about the second book in my new mystery series at random moments and start serious work on it. The book, which takes place at a storytelling festival, will consume much of my work time the rest of the year. By the end of February, I expect to have completed a solid draft … Continue reading →

When Your Publisher Closes

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The publisher of Thunder Beneath My Feet is closing shop December 31, 2017. Both the e-book and print editions will disappear from online bookstores. In 2018, my garage will hold most of the remaining copies of my novel about the devastating New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812. Many writers face this problem. Small publishers often go out of business after a few years of struggle. Big ones discontinue imprints that don’t meet sales targets. One friend’s mystery won an Agatha a couple of days after she heard her big-name publisher was abandoning the imprint. Another friend has seen three of her … Continue reading →

1811: Earthquakes Flood Little Prairie

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The first earthquake threw the 150 or so residents of Little Prairie out of their beds. The ground roared, moaned, and rumbled. Strange lights flashed from the earth. A dense vapor blacked out the stars. Thus, at 2:30 a.m. December 16, 1811, began the New Madrid earthquakes, some of the most powerful and far reaching quakes ever experienced in North America. Three major earthquakes, several aftershocks almost as powerful, and at least 1,800 notable tremors terrified the region and disturbed sleep as far away as Quebec over the next three months. The little Mississippi River frontier village lay near the … Continue reading →

Prime Promotion Season Ends

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Part of a novelist’s job is promoting, and promotion took more time than usual this fall. After all, the approach of winter was a good time to talk about my last book, Show Me the Sinister Snowman. Reminder: Still time to buy a copy as a Christmas gift. Most of my promotion is more subtle than that. For example, in October I took a mental vacation from being an author and prepared a lecture on novels that have had an impact on society for the local Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Naturally I gave attendees an opportunity to buy copies of … Continue reading →

Great ShakeOut Falls on October 19

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More than 52 million people—students, hospital workers, business employees, etc.—will take part in International Shakeout Day Thursday, October 19, 2017. In the United States, the Great Shakeout earthquake drills start at 10:19 a.m. Well over 2 million of the 18 million Americans learning how to react to quakes live in the large New Madrid Seismic Zone. There three of the nation’s most powerful earthquakes, plus some 2,000 aftershocks, took place in 1811-1812. But you know that if you’ve read Thunder Beneath My Feet. Keep in mind three basic steps when an earthquake begins. Drop onto your hands and knees so … Continue reading →

Reunions and Life Stories

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Last weekend I attended my 60th Kirksville Senior High School reunion. There I found myself surrounded by joyful former classmates and a rich tapestry of life stories. This three-day reunion reminded me that one source of ideas for my Show Me mysteries was our surprisingly happy 45th reunion. Interactions with old friends made such a deep impression that they influenced me a couple of years later when I began developing the ongoing characters for my series. I created three women who grew up together, led very different lives, and reunited in the hometown as each faces a personal crisis. The … Continue reading →