A.I.--the Digital Poltergeist

 by Thomas Kies

Last week Artificial Intelligence snuck like a digital poltergeist into our writing critique group. 

About eight of us have been meeting every Tuesday for months and I’ve enjoyed it tremendously.  The group helped me finish my last manuscript.

Most of the participants are former students of mine and their writing skills continue to grow.  Many of them are working on novels of their own and every week I look forward to hearing the next chapter of their book. They work hard on their craft and take it seriously.

Recently, we accepted a new member to our group. For the sake of propriety, let’s call her Mary.  She’s retired, pleasant, and she self-published a novel a few years ago.  It is a harrowing tale about a young girl who is abused and shuttled from one foster family to another. Mary was interested in joining our group because she wanted to rewrite her novel.  She felt it needed to be “fleshed out”, details added and include more scene and character descriptions.  

All in all, she wants to make it a better book.  We enthusiastically welcomed her into our group.

Last week, she read a chapter from her book that had been reworked.  We were all impressed with the level of detail and descriptions that she used, and we told her so.

That’s when she dropped the bomb.  She was using something called Claude AI.  I looked it up and it does much the same as the other A.I. platforms, including “write, edit, and create content”.

Many in the group, including me, were incensed.  I inherently despise A.I.  We work hard at our craft.  We feel that letting A.I. do our writing is not writing at all, but cheating. 

We had a few dissenters and an interesting debate ensued. One of our members said, “She’s planning to self-publish again.  She’s enjoying herself. What’s the harm?”

Another argued, “What’s the difference between using A.I. in writing and using CGI in movies? Do you use Spellcheck or the Thesaurus on your computer? Isn’t this just an extension of that?”

Mary worried that we were going to kick her out of the group, which none of wanted to do.

But it leads me to a conundrum.   Knowing that Mary is using A.I., and that platform is essentially “stealing” word combinations and phrases from other published writers, including myself, how is this different from plagiarism?

And how do we offer criticism and support knowing what Mary is reading isn’t completely her own work?  

My contention is if you’re going to let A.I. do your writing, what’s the point of doing it at all?

Since this came up, I’ve read a lot of arguments, both for and against the use of A.I. in creative writing.  Some argue that it is no different than using Autocorrect or Grammerly, or for that matter, a pen or pencil. 

Others argue that it is, indeed, plagiarizing other writers since what A.I. is giving the user isn’t something new and creative, but something that someone else has already written.  

I know that moving forward, I’m afraid that I won’t be much help to Mary. I am concerned that as A.I. moves further into our daily lives, how that will affect the creative process.  I know some argue it makes it better.  

I liken it a little bit to a handheld calculator.  Since their widespread availability, my math skills have gone straight to hell because I don’t use them anymore.  I rely on that tiny machine.  

Will that happen to creativity?  Will we become so lazy and reliant upon computer chips, that the human soul that is inherent in good writing is subsumed by artificial intelligence?

Or am I being a pain in the ass and should let it go, as someone argued, “She’s enjoying herself. What’s the harm?”

Get Your Focus On

Life is distracting.

There are the two-hundred television streaming options.

There are the 51 million YouTube channels. (not hyperbole. I looked it up!)

There are also 75-thousand Substack newsletters.

Emails. Text messages. Social media doomscrolling you perhaps engage in at two in the morning when your cortisol levels don’t let you sleep.

How can we gather all this chatter, rustle it into a pen, and keep the restless herd/horde contained while we focus on our daily goals?

Focus is not the same thing as concentration. Focus is deciding where to put your attention. Concentration is more difficult because it requires sustained focus. All of us have trouble focusing sometimes. For some, this is more clinical. For others, it’s less clinical and more habit. In our hyper-online world, we are becoming more distracted. There’s just so much to absorb.

It’s NOT our fault!

Okay, well, it might not be our fault in that we didn’t create these algorithms and the tech saturated world we are forced to navigate, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to take responsibility and work on reclaiming our focus.

We can do this. But how? Here are some ideas off the top of my head.

• Go offline more hours every day. This means turning off your phone or putting it in the other room. If you are working on your computer, only open the files on which you are working. If you MUST look up something online, do it quickly and shut the tab down, and whatever you do, do not follow a link trail.

• Only watch TV or YouTube for a specific number of minutes per day and only at certain times during the day/evening. You decide. Stick to it.

• Create a to-do list, not too many items, and check items off as you finish them. So satisfying!

• Meditate. Meditation trains your brain to focus by allowing you to practice pulling your attention back to your mantra or breathing or guide’s voice or sound (chimes, anyone?)

• Review your goals often. Reviewing goals leads to motivation, and motivation leads to focus.

• Reward yourself. Did you choose to deep clean the noxious refrigerator instead of binge-watching a favorite streamer? Did you log into Novlr and meet or surpass your word goal for the day? Reward yourself. I’m not talking ice-cream or chocolate (though these are fabulous and delicious!) so much as giving yourself a mental pat on the back. Sit back and experience the feeling of accomplishment. Tomorrow, remember how good this felt when you have to make that choice again.

• Self-talk. Tell yourself you care more about completing your task and give yourself all the reasons WHY. Why is this task important to you? What’s at stake?

• Make it a habit. Whatever it is you are working on, make it a habit. Habits create less resistance. It’s the difference between zig-zagging around potholes in a back road that hasn’t been maintained for five years and skimming along a smooth highway upgraded with Build Back Better funding. It can be hard to build a habit but well worth it.

• You’ll get stronger with practice.

I’m one who finds it easy to procrastinate & find a million other little things to do than write, but because I have a pretty strong “why” when it comes to my writing, I want to change that. I’m working on building my focus at the same time I’m working to build my muscles. If I want to increase my muscle mass, I need to bring focus to my workout and make working out a priority. If I want to build my book list, I need to bring focus to my work in progress, sitting my butt down at my desk and getting my fingers tap-tapping on the keys.

Sunday, I wrote 4,000 words. Yesterday, 2,000. Today, I’ve got 600 so far. It’s a little harder today. I took some time out to write this blog post.

Darn. I lost focus.

_____

This essay was first published on my online writing journal Shelley's Journal, on June 10. Click the link to see it there and read others like it. I don't always repub, but this one I thought would be interesting to my fellow writers and to everyone, writers and readers alike, who feel distracted and unfocused. Hang in there. We're all struggling. We can DO this! SRB

Creating Characters

 by Sybil Johnson

Creating characters for stories is both fun and challenging. I worry sometimes that the ones I’ve created are too much alike, that readers won’t be able to distinguish between them. Or find them boring or unbelievable or...

I’m always thinking about different ways to create characters that will produce different personalities. These 2 books have been helpful to me: Getting Into Character by Brandilyn Collins and Creating Characters by Dwight V. Swain. They’ve both been around awhile. I still find them helpful. They are definitely worth reading.

 

In my books, I have a theme for each story. In my latest, Brush Up On Murder, love is the theme since it’s set around Valentine’s Day. I created characters who show love in different ways. The love might be for a parent, child, friend, a romantic partner, the world in general. How far would they go for that loved one? How do they express this love? I hope by doing this the characters are different enough and they make the story interesting. I also do mini bios when I have a feel for the character to delve more deeply into their personality. For my short stories, I do mini bios.

I’ve been thinking about other methods for creating characters. Here are a couple: 

Using characteristics of animals: I’ve often heard people describing others as being like an animal. He’s a dog, she’s a cat... I think that would be interesting to use to create characters. 

Me? I’m a cat for sure. I consider myself to be independent. I don’t mind spending time alone. I can entertain myself. I do like to socialize, though, just not a huge amount. I’m an observer. Our cats, when we had them, did a lot of looking out windows, observing the world. Okay, they were probably looking for birds or squirrels, but they were still observing. I’m generally easygoing, but I do have my limits. I remember our vet describing cats as animals that will let you do things for a bit but, once their limit is hit, the hissing starts and the claws come out. That pretty much describes me.

Using astrology: I don’t mean you need to figure out when a character was born and cast their horoscope. Though, hey, if that’s what you want to do, go for it. I mean reading an astrology book that describes the personality characteristics of different signs and using them to create characters. You get some opposing signs involved, you’ll probably have conflict.

I’ve not used either approach yet, but I keep on thinking they would be interesting.

For the writers out there, how do you go about creating characters? What is your process?

Sorting the Sites

 by Charlotte Hinger

Barbara Fradkin a long time of Type M' recently shared all of her frustrations with social media in a post entitled Social Media Self Destructionn. She captured my feelings so accurately that I can't help drawing attention to all that she said. Right now I'm sorting through a number of sites to decide which ones I want to continue and which I should abandon. 

My feelings about all the sites go back and forth. For some time now, I've turned away from Facebook because I'm tired of all the ads and promotions. Also, I'm acutely aware of the all the danger involved with constant internet activity. I don't like the idea of marketing companies combing these sites for data. 

I've never exactly set the world on fire when it comes to social media usage. I now actively dislike some of the sites I previously used. I liked the concept behind Twitter. But because I am still grief-stricken over some the cuts Elon Musk made to government programs, I cancelled my account when he bought Twitter and renamed it "X". 

As to Instagram, I honor the requests of family members who don't want their pictures plastered all over the internet. In fact one granddaughter has specifically asked that her child's face not appear on Facebook or anywhere else.

 I'm not a great photographer. In fact, I'm usually late when it come to taking pictures. No one oohs and ahhs over my photographs. That said, I'm extremely grateful for the camera function built into my iPhone. Coupled with editing software, most of my photos at least provide a record of moments I would like preserved. Nevertheless, there is little point in my continuing with Instagram. 

I'm on LinkedIn and appreciate the connections it provides. I love reading all the business news and the career opportunities posted. I love it when a friend has a new book coming out or has received a promotion. 

As an example of sites I find frustrating, this morning I tried to find out what had become of a daily podcast I enjoy. Some of the links were vicious diatribes about this recording. There is no excuse for this violent rhetoric and the filthy language used to refer to it. The offending site? One that contains the Morning Office recording of a daily rituals used by Episcopalians world side. I can assure you, there's nothing there that would justify this profane commentary. 

I adore YouTube. I don't know how I managed without it. As a life-long knitter and seamstress, I'm crazy about all the videos and demonstrations. I look up everything: how to fix my garage door opener, how to hem jeans using the original hem, how to MIR and MIL in knitting. I wish I had kept track of all the ways this site has rescued me. 

As to Facebook--it stays. The truth is, I miss it. I especially miss hearing about all my friends in Hoxie, Kansas. 

Now that I've pared down my list, I'm going to visit them regularly. It helped to go through this soul-searching analysis. The next step will be to become a faithful visitor of the sites that made the cut. 

Have you ever been to a murder?

   Type M For Murder, right? So let's talk about one, a real life experience that looked like a murder but that turned out to be a natural death. A DFO as they term it. Done Fell Over.

   This is a true story. 

   I was in a ride-along with an El Paso County Sheriff. I was taking the Sheriff's Citizens' Academy. We had presentations from K9, patrol, detectives, the jail, civil affairs, the 911 Center etc. And ride-alongs with an on-duty Deputy. If you are writing a story involving crime, the Police will be involved to some level. You can only benefit from learning, relatively painlessly, from your local PD or SD (police or sheriff's departments) over four to eight sessions. We shot electronic guns on the tactical simulator, very stressing. K9 was Very Impressive. You do not want to run from these dogs. All voting adults should take these courses.  I've been to CAs at five different organizations. 

   I met my Deputy at the substation and sat in the right seat as we patrolled his assigned area. We stopped a few people for burned out taillights and stoplights. It was also a way to casually find people with open warrants. People with warrants, often from missing court dates or parole officer appointments, might not be interested in their brake light bulbs. When the cops stop you for a traffic offense, they are checking you for open warrants.

   We met a sedan with four Japanese men in their sedan, totally lost, with no English skills. We got them back on the highway, north to Denver.

   Then we got a call to go to a residence. A neighbor reported the front door to a house was wide open. It was October, 6 pm, and there was snow on the ground. Doors should be closed. The split-level house was on a dead-end circle. The door was open, lights on upstairs and in the rear of the main floor. There was an old truck in the driveway. It still had snow on the hood, and there were no tire tracks in the snow. Obviously, it had not moved tonight. There were recent tire tracks in the snow on the other half of the driveway, barely up the driveway, shoe prints in the snow. I think a taxi or another car dropped someone off, or a visitor could have parked and the passenger got out. There were no return footprints.

   No one responded to shouts from the open door. A small dog was leashed in the kitchen next to a water bowl and an overflowing bowl of kibbles. The officer drew his weapon and flashlight and began to search the house, all relayed to his Sergeant via radio. The lower floor was dark. A room up was lit, so we went up. I stayed back.

   A large, overweight man lay crumpled halfway down the hallway, partially in the doorway to what looked like his TV room. His right arm was stretched into the room. In the middle of the floor was a 9mm Beretta pistol. TV and lamp next to the couch were on. No blood apparent, but the solid way he was lying on the floor may have trapped the bleeding from a chest wound. The Deputy tried to find a pulse. Nothing. He called it in and suggested it might be the end result of a gunfight or a suicide.

   In short, a detective and the coroner showed up. No wounds on the body. Many pills in the kitchen. The big man was unwell. We discovered he had been drinking, against Doctor's orders, and was driven home by a friend. We think he made a decision to end his life. He left the dog ample food and water, left the door open, but the dog was leashed. While he was preparing, his anxiety triggered heart failure and he died very quickly. DFO solved.

   I recommend a ride-along. Very educational. The details back up my Criminal Justice investigative classes with real experience. And the details work their way into my stories.

Peonies and Pine Pollen

by Catherine Dilts

Warmer weather is finally here on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It’s not uncommon for us to receive snow in the summer months. Hail plagues us in any month.

My gardening friends are greedily enjoying their flowers. You dare not hesitate. Stop and smell the roses! A hail storm or freak freeze could take them out without warning.

I hesitate to experiment with delicate plants. My flower beds are filled with perennials like hardy irises, Shasta daisies, hens and chicks, and day lilies. I thought peonies were difficult to grow in our climate.

Then a neighbor offered us a bucket full of roots. Her peonies had done so well, she had to thin out the plants. I didn’t know what to expect, but we stuck them in the ground with little prep or ceremony.

The peonies are thriving. I may have to do some thinning next year. Who knew that such elegant-looking flowers could grow so easily in our rough climate?

With the beauty of spring and early summer comes the pollen. For a couple weeks, yellow pine tree pollen covers everything. I’m grateful for the growing season, but it also requires taking over-the-counter meds to counteract allergies.

I’m glad we took a chance on peonies, and gave these plants space in our flower bed. Experimentation can result in unexpected rewards.

A writing experiment I’m trying involves co-authoring a YA series with my daughter. The "author" is a combination of our middle names: Ann Belice. An added twist is trying self-publishing. Two experiments at once. I might not have been so bold to test this new territory without a writing/business partner. We expect to release it this month.

The series has been a blast to develop. I began fiction writing by dabbling in science fiction. I created three regrettable attempts. Then I wandered into mystery, and stayed there quite a while. I will continue to write mysteries. They’re just too much fun to leave behind.

I hope Frayed Dreams takes root like the peonies. We have book two in the Tapestry Tales series ready to release. There will be a book three. And perhaps more. We’ll see how the experiment goes.

Later this summer, I hope to release the third book in my Rose Creek Mystery series. The Body in the Hayloft has been in limbo for months. After verifying the viability of the process with the YA novel, I’ll give Hayloft a shot as an Indy production.

And now I’ve got to go. My husband has been doing his own experiments in the kitchen. He is seeking to perfect homemade bison jerky. I’d better see if he needs a hand.

Using Substack for an Author Newsletter

The cover image from my recent author newsletter on JOY.

Happy Friday, Type Ms! It's Shelley, and I'm going to share a little bit about writing and managing a Substack newsletter. 

I really think of my newsletter as a complete publication, not a blog post. That is why I have several sections in each one. These include an editorial letter, a bit about the art, the month’s long-form essay, publishing industry news, my own writing news, and sometimes a bit about Guam or, as in this month’s issue, a recipe for a perfect summer breakfast.

This month's newsletter's theme was "Joy." In the long-form essay, I share a moment of pure joy I experienced while working on the ghostwriting project that became my first published full-length book.

It took me a few hours to write and format the newsletter. Like the better part of a day "few hours." It's not a quick and easy task. 

How Do I Like Substack?

So far I've been happy with Substack. I'm able to follow other writers and people in the industry who know what's what. Publicists. Agents. Editors. These people scan the news and curate the industry happenings, and I feel more informed. (Okay, yes, maybe ignorance was a little more blissful, actually.)

I actually find the platform pretty intuitive and easy to use. I like the data analytics. I like that interacting with others on there, even casually, can lead to some connections. This is similar to other social media platforms.

It's not perfect, of course. I’ve been gaining new subscribers, but at the same time, my open percentage has been going down resulting in about the same number of opens/reads. 

However, the other day I actually had a comment on a "Note" go somewhat viral. According to the post's data, my comment reached 18K people, nearly 700 of which pressed the like button. Guess how many of the 18K checked out my profile? 25. Twelve of them became new subscribers. 

Every little bit helps, I guess. 

Go HERE to read my newsletter and consider signing up if you are interested in creativity, purpose, art, and writing.

I really do try to bring helpful and inspiring ideas to my readers, and I only send one per month. 

Meanwhile all 6000 of the Substack newsletters I follow seem to end up in my inbox every week. Obviously that’s a huge exaggeration--it's more like 60--but I may have to pare down.  

AI News

Did you hear the scuttlebutt about AI and how if you use em dashes and Oxford commas, people might accuse you of using AI. Ugh! I love both! This is, frankly, ridiculous. I'm going to keep writing in the style in which I've become accustomed, and if anyone accuses me of using AI, well, they can think what they want.

Book Cover Update

I worked on the cover again to make it pop even more, and I think it’s done.

I like it better than having the stripe across the bottom, and the font for the title is much more casual, less tight and stiff. 

Never mind the turtleneck. It’s night. On the ocean. Girl needs a sweater.

I finished another scene this afternoon, so I'm getting closer to finishing and releasing this baby. Lately I fashion each scene in my mind, contemplating turning points and conflict and overcoming obstacles and how each scene will lead to the next and move the story forward, plus character development and quirks and dialogue (to tag or not to tag, that is the question!) 

...all the usual craft stuff. 

Have a happy weekend, peeps! 

What is "Real"?

 For the past some months I've been working on two books at a time. I'm having fun going back and forth, but I've discovered it's not the most efficient way to get either book finished in a reasonable amount of time.

The two books are very different from one another. One is a contemporary mystery, the other is historical with mystery elements. But both have touches of magical realism – the contemporary one, not so much. The historical one, quite a bit. Both have to do with the way the main character sees the world. The historical character believes wholeheartedly in unseen worlds and forces. Today she would be seen as superstitious. But I believe her.

Many, many years ago I wrote a book set in Australia. It was while I was researching Aboriginal religions for the book that I first learned about "pointing the bone."

Pointing the bone is a ritual curse that Aborigine shamans perform that causes the "pointee", as it were, to die. The shaman does nothing whatsoever to the pointee other than point the bone at him. And he dies. This is not a rumor or superstition. Over many decades, British observers, including research scientists, were unable to find a single example whereby the person so cursed did not die. However, when the curse was laid upon a European, the European invariably went about his business in good health. The obvious conclusion to be gained from this example is that human beings create their own reality.

I don't intent to imply in the least that our misfortunes are our own fault. It's way more complicated than that.

Once upon a time, Don and I were having breakfast in a restaurant and being royally entertained by watching a three-year-old girl in the next booth making people and buildings out of condiments and napkins and narrating their lives and histories aloud to herself.

"She's in another world," Don said.

I wondered then, as I often have, if the world a little child inhabits in actually less real than mine. When a little guy plays with a companion we can't see, is his friend really imaginary? When a kid says she remembers when she was a cowboy before she was born, does she really?

Nobody would dispute that we shape our children's attitudes, but do we also shape the way they perceive existence? We dismiss their perceptions as unreal if they don't fit in with how we see things. They believe us when we say they didn't really see that woman in the corner of their bedroom. Eventually they fall in line and their vision adjusts itself to fit with the rest of the world they live in.

A Native American parent confirms her child's vision of a spirit helper, so the spirit helper actually helps him. We 21st century Westerners teach our children that money has power, so in our world, it does.

This niggling feeling that reality is fluid influences my writing quite a bit. I try very hard to put aside my own beliefs about the way the world works and perceive things as my characters would without judging them. It's hard!

Whether my character truly sees a ghost isn't as important to the story as is the fact that no-one in her world tries to tell her that ghosts don't exist. Because in her time and place, everyone knew that the dead walk.

Maybe because everyone knew it, the dead did walk. Who am I to say otherwise?

People Watching and Persistence

 by Sybil Johnson

People watching and persistence. I’ll call them the 2 Ps. They are both important for writers. One of them gives us ideas for stories. The other makes us keep on going through the ups and downs of the writing life. 

I enjoy people watching whether it’s at Disneyland or at the airport or anywhere else. I have a Magic Key pass so I go to Disneyland around 8 times a year. Sometimes it’s nice just to sit on a bench and watch people walk by. Most people wear comfortable clothing, but some are dressed much fancier. On my last trip not that long ago, there was a couple dressed more formally. The woman had on a dress that could serve as a wedding dress or a prom dress. Were they coming from a wedding? Or going to another event later that day? We could make up stories.

Then there’s the airport. I suspect I haven’t spent as much time in airports as Steve P. has, but when I’m there and I have time to kill I do some people watching.

I don’t take notes like Steve does, but I file interesting things away in my mind to possibly use in a story. I was in the Seattle airport, many years ago now, when I noticed a man coming from the direction of security wearing khaki pants, no shoes and no shirt (i.e. bare-chested). He was carrying a duffel bag which I assume contained the missing parts of his wardrobe. I always wondered what the story was there. The shoes I understand because they do make you take them off. But, the shirt? I haven’t come up with a story yet for this one, but if anyone does, let me know. I look forward to reading it when it’s published. 

That brings me to the idea of persistence. Charlotte noted in her post yesterday that it’s important for a writer to have resilience and patience. These traits plus persistence are important. I recently reread a post I wrote on persistence paying off for a blog tour I did for my first book, Fatal Brushstroke, in 2014. I think it still applies.I haven't been as good about writing as I should these days. I am a little discouraged, honestly. So I needed to reread this.

 Here are a few quotes from it that I think are important for a writer to remember:

“A writer’s life can be a bit of a roller coaster ride. One day the writing’s flowing and hope fills your heart. The next day you receive a story rejection and that hope is dashed. The ups and downs can be a bit gut-wrenching. So much so, you wonder why you thought you could be a writer in the first place and consider giving up. Believe me, I’ve been there. I’ve even stopped writing for months at a time because I was so discouraged, but something always made me pick it up again.”

“My own writing journey has been fraught with rejections. It’s the nature of the beast, I know, but it’s still hard to take. One thing that’s kept me going is the small successes along the way.”

“Persistence pays off. No matter how many rejections you receive, how discouraged you get, if you truly want to be a writer, keep on going. Eventually, if you’ve done your homework and worked to improve your writing, someone will publish something you’ve written.”

So, keep on with your people watching and keep on writing.You never know what will happen.

Technically Blue

by Charlotte Hinger

 Oh yeah? 

Just try spending a whole night and the rest of the next morning trying to print the right Amazon label. 

I have a single very old hardcover book that I peddle through Amazon's Vendor Central program. It's Come Spring, the first book I published. It's almost forty years old. I foolishly bought a lot of inventory when Simon & Schuster fired my editor and subsequently did not publish my second book. 

Once in a while, I still get an order. In the past, it's been easy to deliver a copy, but recently Amazon upgraded its website and I have not been able to print a shipping label that has the right bar code for the post office or UPS. 

Unfortunately I have a compulsive personality that won't let a problem go unsolved. While it's a great trait for writing books, it's wretchedly difficult to live with when it comes to technology. If I had a nickel for every computer glitch I've tackled I would be rich. 

It was the culmination of a difficult week trying to master my wonderful new combination serger/cover stitch sewing machine. I was ready to tear my hair out after tackling threading it properly. The new machine has a number of features and is infinitely superior to my old serger. Theoretically. 

When I was a child, I was an avid member of 4-H. Every year I would sign up for too many projects. I well remember the summer I planted way too many strawberries. There was no way to water my patch except by carrying bucket after bucket under a blazing sun. 

Yet this innate stubbornness has paid off when it comes to writing. The biggest make or break trait for success is resilience and the patience to learn how to write. Not only how to write, but to hang in there before becoming published. 

A friend is far more successful than I will ever be said:

"The people who have the talent, don't have the courage and the people who have the courage don't have the talent. But there's no question which one will be published."

Are those people astronauts or serial killers?

 By Steve Pease

When I was a civilian engineer for the Air Force, I traveled at least once a month, mostly to LA, Washington DC, Albuquerque and Dayton, Ohio. That means a lot of time sitting at the gate area in airports or exploring terminals because of lengthy waits between flights, and looking for the john or an available electrical plug.

I always stay awake and only sleep aboard the plane. I feared that if I fell asleep, I might wake up after my flight had departed. That would cause a Grand Mal Klong, a sudden rush of sh*t to the heart, and a whole lot of inconvenience..

The paperback I brought along helped. I made a reading list of mystery, SF and history books I always intended to read but hadn't, and I started reading seriously thru the stack. I also brainstormed story ideas. I never got into carrying one of those dedicated writing processors. I scribbled in half-used spiral notebooks piled in another tall stack in my office. 

That all worked pretty well, but I needed breaks. So, I either sat back or strolled the terminal and watched people. Who looked guilty of something? Who was a secret serial killer? Project into the future - who was boarding a shuttle to the moon? I saw people queue up to rush down the tunnel to their aircraft. What if a submarine or a spaceship was at the end of the tunnel instead of a Regional Jet shuttle? Was one of the boarders escaping to Mexico after stealing millions from their employer or hitting nasty Aunt Gertrude over the head with the candlestick?

Sometimes it was just for fun, but sometimes I think I spied genuine fugitives or aliens. In Chicago O'Hare, I saw a man in a bright red suit with a brilliantly white hat hustling to his gate. He was pulling a carry-on bag, and he was talking to himself, somewhat loudly, about a recent meeting and how he had negotiated a great financial contract with them. As he went by, I realized it was Dom Deluise, genius comedian and, like Jonathan Winters, a little vague in his contact with present reality.

Red was in for fantasy people. Also in Chicago, I saw a tall, well-muscled black man in an impeccable, firetruck red three-piece suit. His black, very shiny shoes looked expensive. He had a gold watch and gold rings. He was carrying a thin briefcase in cordovan Moroccan leather. No hat. His hair was expensively shaped and his pencil mustache was striking. He walked like he was an International First Class passenger, and they would wait for him.

He stimulated all sorts of ideas. A celebrity seemed too small. He was a black Mafia leader, the owner of Chicago's most expensive and exclusive "lounge", where the drugs and the food were gourmet, and the world-class women were "available". No, he didn't look gay. His stride was sure and powerful, purposeful. He was top class, so my character fantasy had to match. Shouldn't the president of an African country have an entourage?

I still have those notebooks. They are idea mines where I discover images for characters like gold nuggets in a stream.

When There Are No More Tomorrows

 Last January I blogged about our recently adopted dog, Dirk, and that we had brought him into the household as an emotional bulwark against the impending loss of my other dog, Scout. Now it finally happened. Scout has left us. I won't share stories about him because we all have similar memories about the departure of our beloved pets. However, I will admit that I miss Scout more than I miss most people.

I'll use this opportunity as a springboard into a discussion on grief, not in how to deal with it, but in how grief affects, or doesn't affect, our story narratives. Considering the common theme here on Type M for Murder is writing about criminal homicide, and homicide is the death of a human being, what we don't dwell much on is the grief caused by that death. Understandable since our protagonists are often the ones responsible for solving the murder and they can't afford to dilute their focus in sifting through clues by bringing grief into their process. Cops, especially, deal with grief and tragedy using gallows humor. Trauma surgeons and nurses have to distance themselves from the heartbreak if they are to remain functional. 

In World War Two, a phenomenon in the US Army was the indifference shown to replacement troops, particularly in the infantry who suffered the most casualties. The veteran soldiers figured out that those new to the outfit wouldn't last more than a few days, and the grief in dealing with those fresh losses was too painful and demoralizing to bear. "Just tell me your last name. That's all I need to know about you for now."  It wasn't until a new soldier survived for a month before the old timers closed ranks around him. 

An author friend wrote of a similar situation among spouses of soldiers who were deployed overseas during the Global War on Terror. The strain of waiting for the horrible news about the death of a loved one was too much of a burden to harbor day in and day out. So the wives shut down, numbing themselves, smothering their emotions: both happiness and sorrow. When the husbands returned home midway during their tour, randy and ready to party, to their surprise, the wives remained closed tight. It was too difficult of an emotional transition to let their defenses down, only to bring them back up in a few short days.

One police show that leans on grief as a story trope is Monk. Already since childhood, the detective Adrian Monk was burdened with phobias, and the murder of his wife Trudy drags him deep into an existence defined by obsessive-compulsive disorders and sorrow. His quest to find Trudy's killer is driven equally by the search for justice and as a means to deal with his grief.

 

Twists and Turns

 by Catherine Dilts

As my fellow Type M for Murder authors know, these books ain’t gonna sell themselves! I’m trying to push myself out there. Pitching my books to strangers is not my cup of tea, but it is a necessary part of being an author.

One who makes a profit, anyway. So far this year, I am in the red.

Thus, my participation in Mountain of Authors.

My table at Mountain of Authors

At great risk of exposing myself as a dinosaur, I make this confession. I am such a terrible salesperson, I am not even set up to take credit card sales on my phone. I went to MoA mainly to support the library (which has my books in circulation), to meet readers, and to schmooze with other local authors.

Fangirl moment with fantasy author Z. S. Diamanti

When I came home, there was a box of books on my porch. I kinda sorta knew they’d be coming some time before June, but I was still surprised. And elated. It’s always fun to see your stories in book format.

Publishing is an interesting business. You never know what twists and turns your path as an author is going to take. When I learned that Book One in my Rose Creek Mystery series has been selected as a Harlequin Mystery WWL, I didn't know what to think. Previously released by Encircle Publications, this re-release by Harlequin brings new eyes to my work.

The Harlequin Worldwide Mystery version of my novel

The Worldwide Mystery is sent to thousands of subscribers to the Harlequin monthly book club. Plus, my novel will be available for order in mass market paperback format from Harlequin in late August.

One thing involvement in the publishing industry requires is the willingness to change. I’ll be attending more events when they make financial sense. And I’m experimenting with different approaches to publishing.

I’m not in this business of writing fiction with the expectation of making oodles of money. But I don’t want to leave potential profit rotting on the vine, either.

To relieve the stress of being an artist struggling along in a business world, I walk and run. This Sunday I participated in a fundraising fun run at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Today, it’s back to work!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo fun run

Let's Talk Tropes

by Thomas Kies

 I taught a class last week on the campus of NC State University to room of fifty mystery buffs.  The subject of the talk was Mysteries and the Importance of Settings and Tropes.  I loved the ninety-minute time I had with those people because they’re my tribe.  They love mysteries.  We talk the same language.

And in doing the research for the class, I had a chance to think about settings (which I wrote about in my last blog) and, obviously, tropes. The big question that came to my mind was, can you write a mystery, or for that fact, any novel, without using tropes?

First of all, what are tropes?  

According to Merriam Webster:

: a word or expression used in a figurative sense 

: a common or overused theme or device   

In its most basic sense, it’s something that’s used over and over again.  Let’s talk about a few examples:

-Red Herrings—a false clue meant to mislead the audience or protagonist

-The Detective with the Tragic Past—a protagonist that has a haunting backstory

-The Corrupt Cop—An officer of the law obstructs or manipulates an investigation

-The Journalist Sleuth—Okay, okay…I use that one in my Geneva Chase novels.

-The Twist Ending---Yikes, don’t we all use that one?

-The Overlooked Clue---overlooked, that is, except by our eagle-eyes sleuth

-The Hidden Passage or Tunnel—I don’t know, this one kind of feels like cheating to me.

-The Serial Killer Pattern—How else would we know it was a serial killer?

- The MacGuffin--an object, event, or character in a film or story that serves to set and keep the plot in motion despite usually lacking intrinsic importance

MacGuffins are really something we could spend a whole blog talking about.  Some famous MacGuffins are the Maltese Falcon, the briefcase in the movie Pulp Fiction, the Ark of the Covenant in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, Rosebud in the movie Citizen Kane, A secret letter in the Sherlock Holmes tale The Adventure of the Second Stain.

So, if tropes are used over and over again, are they cliches? They can be, obviously. But the skilled writer will know how to use trope and sometimes subvert them, making the story unique and fresh.

Like Gone Girl. First of all, that trope is the missing housewife, presumed dead and killed by her spouse (don’t we always suspect the husband or wife?) But the story is subverted by using another trope, the unreliable narrator.  In this case…two unreliable narrators. 

Is the Unreliable Narrator a new trope?  Of course not.  Agatha Christie used it in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. 

Are there any stories that don’t have tropes?  I thought that the novel The Maid by Nita Prose came close.  Her protagonist is a hotel maid who is neurodivergent.  Except that really isn’t new after all.  Think about the television series Monk. And possibly the Sherlock Holmes stories.  Was Holmes actually an investigative savant with Aspergers Syndrome?

So, my personal conclusion is that no, you can’t really write a story, any story, without using tropes.  That’s the nature of our beast.  But the true gift in storytelling is making those tropes your own and make them feel new or special with your own words.