Natural Organic Reduction AKA Human Composting

I grew up in Washington state. Even though I haven’t lived there in a long time, my ears perk up anytime there’s a story in the news about doings in the area. A recent one in the Los Angeles Times talked about a bill that recently passed the Washington state legislature giving residents the option of natural organic reduction aka human composting. Yesterday, Governor Jay Inslee signed it into law. You can read the Seattle Times article here: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/washington-becomes-first-state-to-legalize-human-composting/

I also found this interesting article on the process: https://psmag.com/environment/is-human-composting-the-green-future-of-burials

I’d never heard of natural organic reduction. It’s supposed to be a more environmentally friendly alternative to burial or cremation. It reduces the carbon emissions emitted by cremation and takes up less space than a burial. I honestly have never thought about whether or not burial and cremation are green processes or not.

The process works like this: a body is placed with wood chips, alfalfa and straw in a steel vessel where it’s decomposed by microbes. The end product is soil, similar to topsoil you can buy at a local nursery. Customers can take the soil and spread it in their garden or donate it to conservation groups for tree planting. The process takes 30 days. One body produces on average one cubic yard of soil, about two wheelbarrows worth.

Apparently, a similar process is used to dispose of bodies of animals such as cattle in some areas.

I expected the issue to be more controversial than it appears to be. I scoured the internet, but couldn’t find many people expressing negative comments about it. There were some concerns about spreading disease and some people doubted if the process would actually work. But, other than that, not much.

As a mystery writer, I can imagine a number of interesting scenarios. I can also see family members not being particularly enamored with a loved one’s wish to use this process.

What do you all think?

More on character development exercises -or- how I learned to actually enjoy waiting for my flight to depart

by Rick Blechta

Something in Thomas’s post yesterday caught my eye: “…while waiting for your flight, describe the people you see and create an interesting back story for them. What is their profession? What is their romantic status? Where are they flying to and why?”

First of all, this is a really fabulous idea. Waiting around an airport for a flight has to be one of the most boring exercises ever invented by humans. I usually wait it out by reading a book, but the lure of being able to pass the time constructively is an attractive one. I’d like to add a couple of additional ideas: describe the person as if they’re a minor character just passing through the story, then describe them as if they will have something more important to do in your plot.

A lot of us struggle with character description. I nearly always over-describe them, something that’s easily rectified in one of my rewriting stages: while I’m still working on the novel, or when I’m editing after it’s completed. However, I don’t fret over this anymore because when I do overwrite those descriptions it brings the characters into sharper focus for me — even if it winds up on the cutting room floor. One trick I’ve learned over time is to not throw out that stuff. I now stick it into my “dump file” and have a fuller picture to draw on if the character becomes more important later on.

So either way — speaking of a character’s importance in my plot — I’m ready to go with information about that character.

The other thing I might do is to practice writing those descriptions with a few deft strokes, rather than writing a treatise on my subject. I’m always in awe of a writer who can do this — and not many can. It’s an art as much as dialogue or general description. But it is something that can be practised and improved.

And waiting interminably in some airport is the perfect place to practice! “My flight is delayed for a second time? No problem!”

Babies and developing characters

This past weekend, my wife and I flew to Kentucky, to visit my family and my new grandchildren, twins Thomas and Caroline. We were both over the moon to be able to hold the little ones and watch their little personalities start to shine through.

On our last day in Kentucky, I was driving to a local Outlet Shopping Mall (it’s not all playing with the kiddos), I mentioned to Cindy that I needed to do a blog for Type M for Murder for Monday and I didn’t have a clue what I was going to write about. She suggested that I talk a little bit about character development.

She suggested that creating characters is a little like babies growing up. They start out as tiny blank slates, but instead of looking vaguely like a tiny Winston Churchill, our developing characters often start as people we know.

Babies, as they grow, take on their own personality, adopting traits of their parents, traits of their extended families, their friends, their teachers, and others that they emulate, knowingly or not. Our characters grow out of the back stories we give them.

Thomas and Caroline, fraternal twins, already seem to have two distinct personalities, even at five months. Thomas is quiet, observant, physical, sometimes wriggling out a short, loud temper tantrum. But he’s also curious, loves to interact with his toys, and loves to snuggle. So far, he’s the introvert.

Caroline is a verbal chatterbox (as much as a five month old can be), loves to smile, loves to be held and also loves to snuggle. She’s the obvious extrovert.

What amazed me was the way they reached for each other as they lay on their backs on a blanket on the floor. Did they already have a telepathic connection?

As I create my characters, they don’t emerge from my imagination as fully formed individuals. They are often based on people that I know or have met but with a Thomas Kies slant. I’ll give an example. One of my favorite recurring characters in the Geneva Chase series is Frank Mancini. Frank is a successful estate attorney, very attractive, bright, funny, athletic, and, according Geneva Chase, dynamite in the sack.

Frank’s flaws? He’s egocentric, a cad, and a serial adulterer. He’s married but that doesn’t get in his way.

The actual person I based Frank on is physically very similar. He’s also intelligent and funny. But my friend is fiercely devoted to his wife and a really nice guy. I’ll never tell him that Frank Mancini is his evil doppelganger.

I’ve found that character development, much like in real life, comes over time. People develop and change within the arc of the story. Sometimes they change in good ways, sometimes in bad. But change is a constant, nothing stays the same.

Because I’m writing this from a hotel room while my wife is out shopping, this blog is purposely short. I’d better put my computer away, drive out to the Outlet Shops, and pick up Cindy before her charge card goes up in flames.

Post script…when I picked Cindy up at the Outlet Mall, she hadn’t purchased a thing. That’s not how I would have written that at all.

Post post script... a good suggested writing exercise—while waiting for your flight, describe the people you see and create an interesting back story for them. What is their profession? What is their romantic status? Where are they flying to and why?

Exercise advice, don’t stare too long. You could find out more about their personality than you really want to.

Guest Post: Marni Graff

Aline here.  I'm delighted to be able to introduce you today to Marni Graff.  She's the award-winning author of two series - The Nora Tierney English Mysteries and the Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries - as well as being the managing editor of Bridle Path Press.  She also writes the popular crime review blog, www.auntiemwrites.com.  And we had a much-loved mutual friend, though she knew her better than I did and and I'm very jealous of the coffee and biscuits!

 

The Genesis of a New Series

When your mentor and eventual friend is the celebrated Queen of Crime, P.D. James, her suggestion that your write a second series is one you don't ignore.

Studying Gothic Literature one summer at Oxford University, I took the train to interview the Baroness for Mystery Review magazine. I was researching Oxford as the setting for the first Nora Tierney English Mystery, The Blue Virgin, mostly written, when the octogenarian opened the door to her Holland Square townhouse. Warm and funny, I was thrilled to even be in the same room with my idol, much less in her home conducting an interview and snapping photos of her signing my copy of her autobiography to accompany the piece.

After an hour of answering my questions, James invited me to have coffee in her downstairs kitchen (Nescafe’ instant accompanied by Walker’s shortbread biscuits). That more casual conversation cemented what would be a fifteen-year friendship until her death in 2014, with letters, emails, cards, and tea time whenever I visited the UK for more setting research after that.

That day, James had me describe my plans for the English mystery series, featuring an American writer who lives in England, while we sat at the scrubbed pine table where I knew she often wrote her outlines and first drafts in longhand. Then she asked about the various nursing positions I’d held before turning to full-time writing. When I mentioned my years working as a medical consultant for a New York television and movie studio, her face lit up and her eyes glowed.

“Promise me one day you’ll write another series, one featuring a nurse who has that job.” James insisted readers would enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at a different world. I made that promise, and once I had The Green Remains and The Scarlet Wench in print in the Noras, turned my hand to fulfilling it. The first Trudy Genova Manhattan Mystery, Death Unscripted, is dedicated to James, the woman who’d been instrumental in suggesting the series.

Alternating the two now, I’ve just brought out the second Trudy. Death at the Dakota is set in

Manhattan‘s iconic Victorian apartment building. Home to millionaires and celebrities through the decades, famous tenants have included Lauren Bacall, Judy Garland, Boris Karloff, Carly Simon, and Rudolf Nureyev. In modern times its most famous resident, John Lennon, was murdered in its elaborate entryway in 1980. The Dakota’s board is notorious for those applicants it’s denied, too, who include Billy Joel, Cher, and Madonna. Yoko Ono still lives there, as does film critic Rex Reed.

When I was given the floor plan of the apartment that had once been home to Leonard Bernstein and his family, I knew Trudy would work on a TV movie filming at the storied building. In reality, the building only allows filming of its exterior —the supposed interiors used in films like Rosemary’s Baby were all soundstage replicas­­­­­­—but in Trudy’s world anything is possible.

Trudy’s assignment is to protect the film’s star, Monica Kiley, in the early stages of a dicey pregnancy. When Monica goes missing and another cast member dies, Trudy’s nose for murder finds her in the thick of things. At the same time, her NYPD detective boyfriend, Ned O’Malley, is involved in a murder investigation where the victim has been burned beyond recognition. Two victims and two killers challenge Trudy and Ned, when their cases cross paths in this mix of amateur sleuth and police procedural one reviewer has called “the new Nick and Nora.”

Books to Movies

This is the season when academic types are neck-deep in papers to be read and exams to be graded. I just took part in the commencement ceremony for our wonderful undergrads in the UAlbany School of Criminal Justice. Now I need to get my grades in before deadline. So today I am pointing you to a quiz -- an article in USA Today about the best movies you've probably never seen.

Since I have been thinking about how film techniques can and are used by writers, and some of these movies are based on novels, I scored myself to see how many I had seen. I got 25/50. Not as good as it should be, but I have seen 15 of the top 25.

See if you can beat my score. If you're like me you'll find some films you've heard of  but never sit down to watch.

Have fun. I'm going back to work.
 
 https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/life/2019/05/15/50-best-movies-youve-never-seen/39465985/

The Wrong Girl, The Right Title

I (Donis) have been enjoying our recent posts about elegant variations, but today I want to throw back to last Thursday's entry concerning titles, by John. And the main reason I want to do that is because my publisher recently informed me that they have changed the title of my upcoming novel. They ran the new title by me, of course, and asked if I had objections. I didn't, even thought this is the first time in eleven books that I've had a publisher change the title I put on the manuscript. The upcoming book, which will be out in November, is the first of a new series for me, and I had a lot of trouble coming up with a title in the first place. I love the series title, The Adventures of Bianca Dangereuse, and fortunately that is not changing. The new series is structured like the episodes in an old silent movie serial, and like those movies, I had chosen a book title that was overblown and overdramatic. That's what the publisher thought, too. Overblown and overdramatic.* So they suggested that the book be called The Wrong Girl, because this is what one of the characters says to a man who seduces and kidnaps young women.

"One of these days, you're going to choose the wrong girl."

And does he ever.

I like their thinking, too. Whenever I write an Alafair Tucker mystery, I spend many weeks trying out prospective titles on friends and relatives, judging titleworthiness by the look in their eyes. For most of my past endeavors, I have chosen a title early on in the writing process, and then changed it when the book was finished. For the Alafair series, all the titles are taken from something that one of the book's characters says in the course of the story:

"I think The Old Buzzard Had It Coming"
"He was standing on The Drop Edge of Yonder"
"It looked like Hell With the Lid Blown Off"
"Here's your Forty Dead Men, McBride. Don't waste them, 'cause the man you miss may be the one who kills you."

 And so on... While I'm writing, I'm always waiting for someone in the novel to tell me what to call it.

I love reading about how the titles for my favorite books come about. Titles are important. You want to convey something of the spirit of the story, catch the reader’s eye, intrigue her enough that she wants to read that book. When friends and family hear that a new book is underway, one of the first questions I get is, "What's the title?"

How about you, dear reader? Does a fabulous title make you want to buy a book? I’m trying to think of books that I actually wanted to read because of the title. The only one that comes immediately to mind was Bad Luck and Trouble, by Lee Child. Tom Wolfe titles catch my eye, but which of his books have I actually read? Did I read Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers? No, I did not. I read The Right Stuff, Hooking Up, and I Am Charlotte Simmons. (Okay, I also read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, but I was young and it was the ‘60s.)

Commonly authors don't get the final say on what the title of their novel will be. Publishers have the idea that they know what will sell a lot better than some introverted, socially inept author does. Maybe they do. Being introverted and socially inept, I wouldn't know. This time, I think they made a good business decision.
________
*The old title: Lust for Vengeance. What do you think?

More elegant variations

Aline's post this week touched close to home, because I am in the midst of rewrites on my latest Amana Doucette novel, and am very attuned to the style, quality of language, and word use in the text (along with fixing all the plot holes, gaping inconsistencies, and other large failings). It takes many eyes to catch all the word repetitions and find good quality alternatives. First I try to catch as many as I can, and then I pray the copyeditor and proofreader catches even more. But sometimes they sneak through even the most thorough editing, and I only spot them while doing a public reading after the book is out, and the horse has truly left the barn. I've been known to change the offensive word on the fly in these cases.

Reading aloud is very useful not only for catching those pesky repetitions, but for listening to the overall flow of the sentence and the rhythm of the words. Rhythm affects readability and pleasure. Elegant variation can refer to much more than single words. It can refer to sentence structure, sentence length, syllables and accents. Too many long sentences draw out and slow down a story. Too many short sentences make for a jerky ride. Although short vs. long sentences can be effective to vary tension and pacing, in general a paragraph works best with varied sentence length.

Starting three sentences in a row with the same word or structure sounds clumsy. eg. He picked up the book and began to read. He wasn't sure he liked it. He would have preferred a more exciting tale. (Forgive the clunky prose, it's late and my imagination is fried). An elegant variation would be: He picked up the book and began to read. Would he like it? A more exciting tale might be better. Mix up the syntax, create subordinate clauses, invert sentences, etc.

In another elegant variation, I try to mix up long and short words. Some combinations create pleasing rhythms and others land like a thud. I have often resorted to the thesaurus in search of a one-syllable word to replace the existing two-syllable one, because there were already a couple of two or three-syllable words.

There are times, however, when repetition can pack a powerful punch. It makes the message stand out. Alliteration is one example. So is parallel construction – using the same word, phrase, or sentence structure in a series of sentences. Dickens' famous "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times", etc. is a memorable example of this technique. Once again, reading the section aloud is useful in determining whether the effect is powerful, clunky, or just plain silly. Here as always, a little repetition goes a long way.

So I return to my rewrites, trying to keep all these ideas in my mind at once, and sure that I will miss some clunker.s When that happens, I can only hope the copyeditor is there to make the catch.

One of those weeks

by Rick Blechta

Here we are, all good intentions swept away by the four winds, and I’m left with nothing to write this week and no time to write it anyway.

See you all next week. And I’ll have something good…promise!

Elegant Variation

Do you employ elegant variation? Do you even know what it is? You're a cultured lot – probably you do, but I have to confess that I didn't, until comparatively recently.

The phrase was coined in 1826 by HW Fowler, whose Dictionary of Modern English is still the bible for style in the English language. He was in general against it. RW Burchfield, who revised it more recently, is cautiously in favour.

And what is it? It's the consequence of the instinctive prickling of discomfort at the back of your neck that alerts you to having repeated the same word too often in the same passage. If your copy editor is anything like mine, she will frequently draw your attention to any of these you have missed. You then have to come up with another word that means the same. When you change it, you have performed an 'elegant variation'.

Don't reach for the Thesaurus, though – a primrose path that leads easily on to destruction. The term only came to my attention because there was correspondence about it in the Times.

Journalists clearly have a profound aversion to repetition. The one that irritates me most is when they do the, '55% of people believe that...' then 'more than one in six disagree' thing. I didn't like having to do proportion sums when I was at school and still less do I like having to do them over a breakfast read of the papers.

The article that was under discussion was the story about the rat trapped in a manhole cover that needed nine firefighters had to rescue it. The victim (see how I did that!) was described variously as 'the portly rat', 'the rotund rodent' and 'the unfortunate flabby animal.' This was definitely felt to be OTT.

Of course, it's just as my granny always said, moderation in everything (and eat your greens.). I guess we all do it to some extent and I am just delighted to discover that there's a name for it. One of my favourite characters in literature is Moliere's Bourgeois Gentilhomme who was of uncultured stock but was determined to improve himself with tutors and was enchanted to discover that all his life he has been speaking prose.

WHOSE STORY IS THIS ANYWAY?

By Vicki Delany

I'm delighted to invite my good friend, fellow festival organizer, and excellent writer Janet Kellough back to Type M. I'm certainly keen to find out what Thaddeus Lewis is getting up to now.

One of the things that is lovely about writing a series is the way the characters evolve as time goes on. In the first book in my Thaddeus Lewis mystery series, On the Head of a Pin, the hero/detective  Lewis is a man in his prime struggling with the unexpected death of his daughter, a loss that propels him headlong into a murder investigation. He is decisive and forthright and resolute, certain in his calling as a saddlebag preacher. But in his pursuit of the killer, he comes to understand that the world is perhaps not quite as black and white as he’d always believed.

As his story progressed through the subsequent books, he loosened up even more. He softened. He began to doubt himself. And the meaner I was to him, the more relatable he became. And I’ve been pretty nasty - I’ve bashed him over the head and broken his arm. I gave him a gimpy knee. I pointed a gun at him a few times. I killed his wife. I humiliated him. I seduced him. (Big existential crisis for a 19^th century minister.)

But with each challenge, his character deepened and I liked him more.

His family grew up around him as the story went on. Relationships subtly shifted. And then friend and foe alike began to wander through the narrative, popping up here and there just when the plot needed them most.

Now, in the seventh book The Untoward Assassin Thaddeus’s granddaughter Martha, who was a toddler in the first book, is nearly an adult and about to embark on a career as a teacher, thanks to the fact that the Provincial Normal School, the teachers’ college of the day, actually accepted female students – a provision virtually unheard of at institutions of higher learning in 1855.

Thaddeus accompanies her to Toronto, and lo and behold, there’s his youngest son Luke, sitting there ready to be called back into the story. But the dynamic between Luke and his father has changed from the earlier books. Luke has gone from being an insecure student with a big secret to a successful physician (he still has a big secret, but he’s not as bothered by it.) He is very worried about his father’s health. Both he and his brothers are worried about what Thaddeus is going to do with himself now that he’s given up preaching. The question “What are we going to do about Thaddeus?” becomes a recurrent refrain as the plot unfolds. Each of the Lewis sons is willing to look after their father if necessary, but each of them will be relieved if one of the others offers first. Thaddeus is no longer the patriarch to whom everyone turns. The old man has become a problem.

But in the way of many children, they’ve underestimated him. He’s still a magnet for trouble and he’s still quite capable of meeting it head on.

When he becomes convinced that someone is trying to kill him. Luke dismisses the notion at first. (Oh no! Is Thaddeus becoming senile?) Martha believes him – but where once she would have believed simply because he’s Thaddeus and for most of her childhood she was a little confused about whether or not he and God were actually the same person - she now weighs the evidence and comes to her own conclusion. Eventually everyone agrees that something is going on and that the would-be assassin must be connected somehow to one of the crimes that Thaddeus previously investigated.

And guess what? There were any number of ready-made suspects lurking in the background just waiting for a reprise. I had my choice of instant villains, already conveniently supplied with motive, their characters established and ready to go.

Any writer of fiction creates a setting through which the characters move, but a series allows the context to shift and grow in surprising ways. Past events impact the storyline in odd ways. Characters can make an appearance in one book and suddenly pop up again several books later. Sometimes they grumble until you let them out. Sometimes they show up and run away with the plot. And sometimes both the setting and the characters change and grow in directions that you couldn’t have conceived of in the beginning.

“But what happens next?” Thaddeus Lewis fans ask. The answer is, “I don’t know. I’m waiting or the characters to tell me.”

Sometimes I’m not sure it’s even me writing this stuff anymore.

Janet Kellough is the author of The Thaddeus Lewis mysteries, the adventures of a 19^th century saddlebag preacher. She has also written two contemporary novels The Palace of the Moon and The Pear Shaped Woman, the speculative fiction work The Bathwater Conspiracy, and the semi-non-fictional Legendary Guide to Prince Edward County. She is also a co-founder of Women Killing It Crime Writers’ Festival, which showcases crime fiction by female authors.

Sick Society

I'm too sad to blog. Two days ago, Colorado experienced another school shooting. I've been weepy off and on all day. I can't imagine the terror some of these children must be experiencing.

There comes a time when one becomes saturated with tragedy. I have no idea how we got to this point. Schools are no longer a safe haven. Neither are churches. Is there no place on God's green earth where people can peaceably assemble as a group?

Ironically many of the guns used in school and church shootings were obtained legally. I believe in sensible gun control legislation. I believe registration is a good idea. So is banning assault rifles. I'm not sure any of this will have a marked effect on the violence, but it's a start. The problem goes deeper. However I'm not sure what the problem is.

I'm absolutely fed up with politicians who are sure they have the answers but do not risk their careers to evoke change. Frankly, I admire the stance of the prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, who responded to a shooting there by immediately implementing a ban on assault rifles and forbidding the press to print the shooter's name. We have different rules here in America. No one has the authority to do that. But denying the instigator publicity certainly would thwart episodes here driven by a perverse desire for lasting notoriety.

On my refrigeration is a photo of the sweetest little terrorist. He's a bewildered little four-year-old boy hugging a Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy for dear life. He appears to be escorted somewhere in a barred van. Minus his parents, I suspect.

I'm with the kid. How in the world did it come to this?

Titles (I write) & Titles (I read)

Coming up with a title has never been easy for me. In fact, it might be the only time I get “writer’s block” in the course of writing a book. If one doesn’t readily appear, I look for patterns in the book, lines that speak to the work as a whole. I’ve even read poems and Bible passages looking for a word or phrase that triggers a response.

Right now, I’m in the awkward position of having spent several months outlining a novel –– that I’m now writing –– with no clue whatsoever as to what I’ll call it. Usually, by now, I have some concept, however abstract, as to what the book might be called. I’m not sure if I should be concerned.

Billy Collins’s great line about the importance of the title of a poem –– stepping from the title to the poem’s first line is as important (and tricky) as stepping from the dock into the canoe –– speaks volumes.

Does the title of a novel impact the reader’s experience the same way the title of a poem does?

I don't know.

Do I buy or read books based on titles alone? Never. Am I person who can’t remember the title of a book but can usually tell you the protagonist’s name? Yes, I’m that guy.

Titles are important. I know that. How important? That, I do not know and would love to hear from readers on this topic.

*

Some titles I’m reading right now:

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

How To Read A Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

How To Read A Book is fascinating and worth a post in and of itself. It talks about the art and honor of struggling with a text. If you don’t own it, you ought to.

Malice Domestic 2019 Recap

I recently attended Malice Domestic in Bethesda, MD. I came home with lots and lots of books and some wonderful memories.

Our usual routine (the hubby comes with) is to fly into D.C. Wednesday evening, getting to the hotel about 10 p.m. That way we have a day to sleep in a bit and do a little sightseeing before the conference begins. I’m not great with 3 hour time changes so it gives me a little adjustment period.

This year we went to Ford’s Theater, which was very interesting. Learned lots about the U.S. Civil War as well as Lincoln himself. Part of the tour was a short play about the assassination. Then we went across the street to the house where Lincoln was taken and where he died.

Inside of Ford's Theater

That evening, the Malice festivities began with showings of Murdoch Mysteries and Queens of Mystery. I attended the Murdoch event where we viewed an episode of the series (which I love) and got a chance to ask questions of Maureen Jennings who writes the books the series is based on. Then it was off to do a little catching up with my fellow Henery Press authors.

The highlight of Friday for me was the Malice Go Round aka Speed Dating with Authors. Picture 20 tables in a large room. Authors go from table to table in pairs and have 2 minutes each to talk about their books. This was the first year in a long time where I got the chance to listen to people’s pitches instead of giving one. Found a lot of new books and authors to try.

The rest of the weekend was a flurry of panels, catching up with people I hadn’t seen in a while and, of course, the Agatha Award banquet. I was on a panel called “Murder Most Crafty” Saturday morning with other authors who write traditional mysteries featuring crafts. We had a good time with lots of interesting questions to answer.

Murder Most Crafty Panel

The Agatha Award banquet has become my favorite part of Malice. I always meet interesting people and have a great time. This year I was at the table hosted by Nance Cole Silverman and Margaret Dumas, both fellow Henery Press authors. Had a really nice time. One of the other people at the table was someone who has been to every single Malice! This was the 31st. That’s a lot of years to come. It turns out we were at the same table at the first Malice I attended and, purely by coincidence, at the second one I attended as well. So this is the third time around for us! Maybe we’ll end up at the same table next year. Who knows. That’s my quick summary. I’m sure there’s more I could say but, well, I’m tired. If you’re going to the Pasadena LitFest in Pasadena, CA, I’ll be on a panel called “Three Shades of Mystery: From Cozy to Dark Mysteries” with other Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles members. Saturday, May 18, 3-4pm. For more info on LitFest go to www.litfestpasadena.org

Now here’s a truly chilling story…

…and a grand plot idea for a novel.

by Rick Blechta

Many of us are using AI devices in our homes. “Oh,” you say, “I don’t have any of that stuff!”

If you own an Amazon Alexa or have an Apple product and use Siri, not to mention Google Assistant, you’ve got AI in your house. Have a smart thermostat, smart anything for that matter and you’ve got AI. Bet some of you didn’t know that.

Now here’s where it gets truly frightening. All of those devices are transmitting the data they collect to the corporations that produce them.

Don’t believe me? Read this: “Alexa has been eavesdropping on you this whole time”

Pretty frightening, isn’t it? The really scary thing to me is you can’t turn off the data collection if you want to keep using these products. Convenient how they built in that functionality, isn’t it? And we’re supposed to blindly trust these corporations. “We only use the data to improve our products, to help them learn!” Yeah, and I have a bridge in Brooklyn you might like to purchase. What’s to stop individual employees to overhear something valuable and then use if for nefarious purposes? This could well be the basis of “the perfect crime”. If that’s the case, it may well have taken place.

So it doesn’t take much imagination to see how all this collection of data could form the basis of a strong plot for a thriller, cozy, police procedural, whatever. This stuff is just made for crime fiction.

Okay, everyone! Scenario time. Work up an “elevator pitch” for your proposed novel and share it with us.

As for me, they can keep their smart houses. I’m perfectly happy living in a stupid one.

How Much Violence?

We live in a violent world.  In books, movies, television shows, video games…the news.

Recently, there was a mass shooting at UNC Chapel Hill.  Two people were killed.

The mass shootings over the last few years have been horrific.  58 killed in Las Vegas in 2017.  49 killed in the Pulse nightclub in Florida.  32 killed at Virginia Tech in 2007.  That doesn't even count the terrible shootings in our high schools and and elementary schools.  I was ashamed that when I heard the body count at Chapel Hill, I almost felt a sense of relief that it wasn't higher.  That's just wrong.

The world is awash in violence, either man-made or from natural causes.  Wars, fires, famine, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes.

So, why do we enjoy reading mysteries?  They're inherently violent.  In almost all mysteries, someone dies. But the beautiful thing about a novel, generally speaking, justice is exacted by the conclusion.  The bad guys (or ladies) are uncovered and arrested or otherwise dispatched.

How much violence is too much?  It depends on the writer and it depends on the audience.

Late last year, I read Hank Phillippi Ryan’s mystery, Trust Me.  Death definitely has a seat on this bus, but her book is far from being violent.  It’s a excellent psychological thriller. It quietly pulls you along with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat.  The gore level is very low and the storytelling is topnotch.

At about the same time, I read Stephen Mack Jones’ first book, August Snow. Full disclosure, I liked it so much, I’m currently reading his second novel, Lives Laid Away.  The violence level is stepped up, but you’d expect as much when your protagonist is a retired Marine and an ex-cop. There are going to be fist fights and gun play and Jones makes it work without making it cringe-worthy. You genuinely like the characters and hope they live through their violent travails.

On the other end of the spectrum is Don Winslow’s new book, The Border.  At slightly more than 700 pages, it’s on a scale with Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. This book is raw, gritty, and very, very violent. But it’s about drug cartels, addicts, DEA agents, Mexican Federales, and dirty politicians. Is it for everyone?  Of course not.  Personally, I loved it.  Couldn't put it down.

My own Geneva Chase series has been described as dark and sinister.  But most of the violence in my novels takes place off the set.  You don’t actually see the violence, but you witness the aftermath and the ramifications.  And make no mistake, there will be at least one life or death struggle.

These are my personal rules on violence:

It can’t be gratuitous.  There must be a point to it.  That act of violence has to move the narrative forward or bring the story to its conclusion.

Limited gore. There should be enough to make it real, but don’t make it gore porn.

Don’t glorify violence.  Show it for what it is—ugly and scary.

Show the ramifications.  In Darkness Lane, Geneva Chase has discovered the body of a murdered man.  He’d been tortured and beaten to death.  The scene so rattled her that it keeps popping up in her head.  She keeps thinking, "His head was bashed in."  Over and over. Something akin to PTSD.

I’m fussy about the body count.  If I want to see a massive loss of life, I’ll watch Game of Thrones.

Speaking about violence, I’m glued to the television as the last episodes of Game of Thrones play out.  I love the series because of the character development and byzantine plot lines and no one is safe.

But it’s not for everyone, Cindy, my wife, won’t watch it because, in the very first episode, someone kills a dire wolf. Cindy saw that and she was out of the room.

Oh yes, one last Thomas Kies rule on violence.  It was the subject of an earlier blog.  Never hurt a dog.

Guest Post - Laura Brennan

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to put together a writer’s conference? I can tell you from experience that it’s a lot of work. Please welcome this weekend’s guest poster, Laura Brennan, who gives us a behind the scenes look at the upcoming California Crime Writers Conference.

Intrigue! Murder! Carrot Cake!
Behind the Scenes at the California Crime Writers Conference

 

By Laura Brennan

 

When I took on the position of co-chair of the 2019 California Crime Writers Conference (along with the fabulous Jennifer Younger of SoCal MWA), I knew there would be a lot of details to take care of. Plenty of e-mails. A fair amount of scrambling when the best-laid plans went awry.

And yet I was still caught by surprise.

First, the good news: we were incredibly lucky to nab Tess Gerritsen and Catriona McPherson as our Guests of Honor -- and we didn’t have to resort to kidnapping either of them! Both are prolific, writing both series and stand-alones, and between them covering much of the crime novel spectrum, from hilarious cozy to gritty dramas, and all the layers of conflict, character and emotion in between. Whew! That was the first hurdle and we sailed over it.

We are also lucky to have so many talented writers attending the conference and participating on panels. The putting together of those panels based on their talent and experience -- now that was a minor miracle. You can’t create great panels without knowing who has what to offer, and of course with authors, the best way to do that is to read their books.

This was the beginning of the crazy.

I had not budgeted gobs of time to read the new-to-me authors attending CCWC. And I am not someone who can skim -- I get too emotionally involved. Happily, I run my own business and found myself between clients at the critical moment. Not that my bank account was happy, mind you, but my TBR pile got tackled with vigor. I discovered new laugh-out-loud cozies, some marvelous amateur sleuths, and a few gut-punching, edge-of-my-seat thrillers. Want to know who these authors are? Check out our Unusual Suspects (the list of those attending the conference) and definitely check out their books.

Then there was the week when I sent out over 300 individual e-mails. Thank goodness for cut and paste; I only had to individualize a line or two. But still, I can now tell you from experience that 300 e-mails will eat your life. Speaking of eating, my family had pizza and sandwiches for the week. On the plus side, it encouraged my son to crack open a cookbook. Win-win.

Continuing on the food front, an unexpected bonus was the tasting menu at the venue. Jennifer and I went in with a firm idea of what we were ordering for the conference lunches, and it all flew out the window when the chef presented us with his suggestions. The mushroom ravioli is killer, and I mean that in the best possible way. And death by chocolate cake? We have you covered.

But the best part has been coming up with new ideas for extra fun this year. We are running a Best First Sentence Competition, and all attendees are invited to submit. The winner will be announced on Saturday, and we’ll have a second off-the-cuff competition based on the winning entry. I am also writing an escape room for some Saturday evening entertainment, for those who want to play. Someone has left clues to solving their own murder, but the police are baffled. Can you ferret out the killer? If that’s not your cup of tea, there’s always the hotel bar. Some time-honored traditions can’t be improved upon.

Am I crazy to have volunteered to co-chair the conference? Absolutely. But it’s already been worth every moment. When it’s all over, I will have learned how to spot a suicide bomber, how to have a long career, and what happens when my novel is (fingers crossed!) optioned for the screen. Best of all, I know I will have made new friends -- and I’ve already found new authors to love.

For more information on the 2019 California Crime Writers Conference, taking place June 8-9 in Culver City, CA, go to https://ccwconference.org/

Laura’s eclectic career includes a picture book to help parents explain a loved one’s dementia (Nana Speaks Nanese), numerous short stories (“A Slice of Heaven” appears in the 2019 Malice Domestic Anthology, Mystery Most Edible), and Destination Mystery, a podcast featuring interviews with crime writers. Find out more at LauraBrennanWrites.com.

Off to Malice

Frankie here. Sorry I don't have time to write a post today. I'm rushing to get myself together before heading off to Malice Domestic, the annual mystery conference in the D.C. area. I've had a cold all week, so playing catch-up.

I went down to the City (NYC) for the Edgars banquet last week. Sitting there about to take a bite of my salad, I had a lovely surprise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT8WE_dbijQ

Speaking of Words...

I, Donis, have found it very interesting to read my blogmates recent thoughts on inspiration, the reality of murder and crime solving, outlining (or not), technique, and conveying sense of place.

All of these deep thoughts have made me consider the psychology of my own writing. So much of my technique is unconscious. How do I convey a sense of place, the personalities and motivations of my characters? How does one describe a smell, a color, an emotion? It helps to have a spectacular vocabulary, I’m sure, but it doesn’t seem to be the number of words a writer uses, but which words. Genius is the ability to choose the right words and arrange them in just the right order to convey the perfect nuance of feeling and senses.

What, you may ask, is she babbling about now? I’m actually talking about Ernest Hemingway.I was never a big fan of Hemingway’s manly themes, but I have a great appreciation for the genius of his style. He is terse in the extreme, but somehow he is able to create real honest-to-God people coping with situations that most of us will never face.His characters are so human that in the end, the reader feels she might really know what it’s like to be an anti-Fascist freedom fighter or an elderly Cuban fisherman.How does he do it when he is so sparing with words?

Whether or not we authors convey crime-solving techniques with absolute accuracy or not, mystery is a fabulous form for exploring character. In fact, mystery is all about motivation. Why do people do what they do? What is going on in a character’s head when he is driven to kill someone? Why is the sleuth trying to figure out who did the deed? What is driving him? Do I think about these things when I write a mystery? Yes, I do, especially when I’m creating the character of the murderer. But then after I have written about her for a while, she separates from me, in a way, and begins to react unconsciously to the situations I put her in, like a real person would do.

I know this phenomenon occurs with all authors, but it does make you feel a bit like you’re possessed. I wonder what Dr. Freud would have to say about it?

Canadian crime myths busted too

Rick's post gets to the heart of why we write crime fiction. We are creating a tale of human struggle, pain, and ultimately justice, using the device of the mystery novel. But in order to tell that tale so that it feels real and draws the reader into the struggle, most of us try to create a somewhat real world.

There are pitfalls. I can relate to Aline's experience with the cops and lawyers at the CWA conference. Real crime investigation is nothing like our fictional creations. In our defence, TV portrayals are worse. I don't know how many times I've yelled at the TV that the detectives shouldn't be traipsing all over the crime scene, picking up evidence and stepping over blood spatter. And that pathologists and coroners shouldn't hover over the body with their long blond locks trailing. And that DNA results don't come back from the lab in the blink of an eye.

When I was writing my first Inspector Green novel, Do or Die, I made up all the police and crime investigation stuff, basing it largely on both US and UK novels and shows I knew. When to my surprise a publisher bought it, I realized I'd better fix it up if I didn't want to look like a rank amateur, so I asked the Ottawa Police if someone on the force would be willing to read it. That was a stroke of excellent fortune. The police officer who read it was a crime fiction fan and he subsequently read all ten books in the series, as well as connecting me with specialists if I needed them. He was a priceless asset.

His first comment was just as Aline said. Inspectors don't investigate crime, they don't even oversee the investigation or direct resources to it. They are higher-level managers of an overall department which includes Major Crimes. My inspector should have the rank of detective. The person overseeing the case would be a Sergeant, and the person overseeing all the cases currently being investigated by Major Crimes would be a Staff Sergeant.

I was crushed. "Detective Green" did not roll off the tongue. It had no mystique. So I exercised a writer's prerogative and made him an inspector anyway, but one who was not happy to be out of the trenches and behind a desk. This allowed for a great deal of dramatic tension over the series as he tried to meddle and second-guess the sergeant who was actually running the case. It was not realistic but that was a small nod to realism.

One area where I do try to be more realistic is in crime scene analysis. Years ago I took a full-term police course in forensics and crime scene analysis so that I could use it effectively without causing SOCO investigators to hurl the book at the wall. My books do not deal with the minutiae of forensics, because the lifeblood of good fiction is human interaction and conflict, not fingerprint and fibre analysis. Most of my books focus on old fashioned interviewing and background investigation of suspects, family, friends, etc. It was very helpful to know how forensics works, however. For example, the coroner and the SOCO are in charge of the crime scene and do not allow anyone inside until they have finished processing it. That can be days.

So no detectives traipsing around picking up clues. Instead, they are given very detailed photos, diagrams, and reports of every aspect of the scene and the body. This is another potential source of tension as detectives chafe on the outskirts. And those forensics results obtained on the spot? Forget it. Evidence is packed up, stored in fridges if needed, and sent to the lab, and the whole thing can take weeks. Even months depending on priorities. But that delay is also useful, since it means that my detectives can get on with interviewing and solving the case while they wait.

Interviewing, etc. is one more area where we writers bend the rules a lot. Forget two or three dogged detectives doing all the legwork. Normally in a homicide case a whole lot of officers are deployed in the initial stages to conduct house-to-house interviews, follow up on tips from the public, watch videos and CCTV, and trace last known activities. But following sixty characters does not work in fiction. Readers' minds glaze over once you introduce the eighth constable. Hence the fiction of two or three main detectives and a supporting cast of perhaps another five. All other reports are funnelled through them.

One last point. It's true that most criminals are not too bright, and they often have to improvise and cover up on the fly, which does not go well. But dumb villains are no fun in fiction. They are not worthy adversaries and do not evade capture for 300 pages. So we invent the likes of Moriarty.