Women's Work

Tuesday was International Women's Day, and the news was filled with articles and stats on how far we have come (gender parity in Canada's federal cabinet) and how far we still have to go (spousal assault stats, gender wage gap). Having been born in the immediate post War years and come of age in the social revolution of the 60s, I have marched some distance along the long road towards equality. In those nearly seventy years, it's easy to forget–and indeed, some never knew– how far we have come. My now 97 year-old mother has been my inspiration and role model for a strong, independent woman. She was born to relative privilege and attended private school in Westmount followed by finishing school in Paris, in the days when young ladies went to finishing school to get ready for their debut into "society". But while her friends practiced their courtesies and schemed over their dance cards, she chose instead to take the McGill university entrance exams. While those fine young ladies paraded their pedigrees and assets in the hopes of securing a hefty diamond ring by the end of the season, my mother was studying philosophy and science and dreaming of her place in the world.

Yet she was trapped by her era, her dreams stifled by her time and by the men who held the power over her life. She came from a long line of physicians and surgeons who had helped build the McGill medical school and the affiliated Montreal teaching hospital into a force to be respected internationally. Like her grandfather, father, and older brother before her, she wanted to be a doctor, but was told it was no job for a woman, who had neither the health nor the stamina for it. At 97, she sure has proved them wrong! So she did graduate work in biology and bacteriology instead, and when the reality of family responsibilities encroached, she became a high school biology teacher. But what a teacher! Innovative and creative throughout her teaching years, she wrote text books, developed a new ecology curriculum decades before its time, acted as president of her teaching union, and inspired countless students. After she retired, she went on to settle refugees and participate in social action and social justice causes, earning at the age of eighty a Caring Canadian Award from the Governor General of Canada. At 87, she wrote a book.

As her daughter, I had it slightly easier. But when I wanted to go to graduate school, the universities still required a letter from my father proving he could support me. When I wanted to buy a car, the bank required my husband to co-sign the loan, even though I was a professional on an equal footing with him. When I enrolled in my doctoral psychology program, the class consisted of nine men and me. Many of those men had wives who cooked their meals and did their laundry, allowing them to stay all hours at the lab. I had a great but lonely husband who just looked sad when the meals were late and the laundry forgotten. When I first started working as a school psychologist, women dominated the classrooms in elementary schools and made up about half of high school teachers, but there was only one woman principal in the whole school board. The higher you got in the school board, the more men dominated.

I'm happy to say times have changed. Women are everywhere in psychology and teaching and school board administration. They are dominant in many fields of university study, including law and medicine. But there is still this niggling reality that the fields dominated by women are the "soft", "nurturing" fields, and that the pay in these fields is not equal to the power-broker fields of science, tech, finance, and business, where it's still a man's world. I vividly recall a comparative entry-level income survey done between psychologists (who require a PhD and roughly 25 years of study) and regular engineers (a B Eng and less than 20 years). The engineers started at about $20K more than psychologists. At the time, I thought it's a good thing I love my work!

What does this have to do with this blog, which is after all a blog about writing? Because in some ways, the underlying themes hold true. Since I started my second career as a writer, I have banged my head against the same glass ceiling, encountered the same biases against women's stories the same undervaluing of women's choices, and the same preconceptions about the worth of women's work. An unpublished author, in an effort to find out why agents and publishers were rejecting her submissions, changed her name (and nothing else) to a male pseudonym and received eight times as many expressions of interest. Male authors receive more reviews, more festival invitations, more offers from the big publishers. And when it comes to prestigious awards, men win hands down.

Since recent surveys of publishing and literary agents reveal an overwhelming majority are white women, our sisters seem to be perpetuating the same message; men's stories matter more. And here's a recent anecdote to illustrate this. At the conference I just attended,  our Canadian contingent of crime writers organized a reception to highlight Canadian Crime. Pictures of all of us were posted to Facebook, prompting several commenters to ask "Are there no male Canadian crime writers?" There was one, but he was lost in the sea of hard-working women toiling on behalf of all of us. It's just what we do. What we have to do.

So it seems it is not yet time to lay down the sword and declare the battle won. But every time I grumble grumble grumble, I just have to remember my mother– where she came from and how far she travelled, against far greater odds than me. And if if all else fails, there's always the plucky thought "It's a good thing I love my work!"

Stuff and blather

by Rick Blechta

Sorry I missed my spot last Tuesday. I was sick as a dog with a 24-hour bug of some sort. I’ll spare all and sundry the gory details, but to demonstrate how horrible I was feeling all that day, I’ll tell you this: I didn’t even turn on my computer. I can’t remember when that last happened. I also felt horribly guilty for abandoning my duties.

Today’s post will kind of bounce around to various things that I’ve been cogitating on but which don’t warrant a full post. Here goes…

The publishing industry continues to go through a pretty amazing period of upheaval. I won’t go into how authors are getting an even shorter end of the stick through all this. I sometimes wonder if we ink-stained wretches should form a union and start negotiating with the publishing industry as a united group. I’m sure the idea has been floated before. Knowing how writers operate, I can imagine the chaos putting together an organization like this would create, and there would always be those who prefer to travel their own path — making the whole exercise even more difficult. Like everything else in the arts these days, authors are preyed on by others to do more and more things for free. If we could go back as recently as 50 years, we would realize how radically the writer’s plight has changed — and we’re expected to do it for even less.

I’m continually amazed at how book cover design seems to be going downhill. A lot of it can be explained by the rise of self-publishing. As much as it irks me at times, there is a good reason publishers try to keep authors at a distance when it comes to creating a “face” for their works. From speaking to authors, both mainstream and self-published, it’s pretty clear that the relative simplicity of cover art (only three main ingredients: title, author and image) causes them to think that book covers are simple things when the direct opposite is true. But I’m also finding the art departments of mainstream publishers taking an increasingly cavalier approach to book cover design. With few exceptions, cover art is chosen by cost, rather than commissioned. This means that those images are becoming generic and disconnected. If you’re a big-name author, your works’ covers might not even get an image, just huge type with your name and the book’s title. And that’s a cover? It’s a disturbing trend.

Lastly, I notice that Barnes & Noble is abandoning the Nook reader. I love it when an industry gets everyone to buy into some new technology only to have it chucked because some other competing technology beat it out. Remember the short-lived HD DVDs? Blu-Ray smoked that in not much more than a year. Sure, we can always expect technology to move on and improve, but it’s the idea of one knocking out another competing platform that gets my goat. Will Kindle go on to destroy Kobo? Amazon sure hopes so. But in the end, it’s always the consumer who suffers – in their pocketbook. This sort of thing gets tedious after awhile.

Do you have anything that bugs you like this?

Addiction

I was so interested in Vicki's post last week about why it is that she writes. I felt really envious when she said that she doesn't have to write. Because I do.

I think I've shared with you before my little fantasy that at my christening party the Good Fairy was invited but the Bad Fairy wasn't. The Good Fairy wanted to give me a wonderful gift, the Bad Fairy wanted to put on a horrible curse: they both spoke together and said, 'She shall be a writer.'

What is it that drives me? I don't know, I only know that when I'm not writing, I'm miserable. Sometimes I'm miserable when I am writing – when the story sticks, when the characters won't do what I want them to, when the inspiration doesn't seem to be there – but I know it would be much, much worse if I didn't.

But when it's working well, when I feel as if all I'm doing is taking down dictation from somewhere and my fingers can't keep up – ah, that's the hit that feeds my addiction.  I can't give up.

I wonder sometimes what people think about when half of their mind isn't on the story they're currently working on. For me it's a bit like living with a split screen; I'm quite adept at providing an answer to questions I haven't really heard, a talent I think I developed at school to cope with the teacher who would ask, 'What did I just say?' when she noticed I was daydreaming.

So I can't claim to write for anyone except me. I'm thrilled when other people join me for the ride - readers' emails are the very nicest part of being an author – but if they didn't, I'd still be there at the desk telling myself the story I'm writing because I want to know how it ends.

Presenting Erika Chase ...and Linda Wiken

This weekend, our guest blogger is my good friend and fellow Canadian author, Erika Chase. In a parallel life Erika, AKA Linda Wiken, is a former mystery bookstore owner.
The fifth book in the Ashton Corners Book Club Mysteries, Law and Author, came out last Sept. A new series, the Dinner Club Mysteries is due in July under her real identity (Linda Wiken). Toasting Up Trouble introduces the Culinary Capers gang. She’s a member of those deadly dames, the Ladies’ Killing Circle. She's been nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel for A Killer Read and for an Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story from Crime Writers of Canada. Her website is www.erikachase.com. Please welcome Erika, and Linda!

_____________

A couple of weeks ago, one Type M blogger wrote about mystery conferences. Now I’d like to present you with a cozy view of the conference world. And believe me, it’s a different one.
Of course, rule number one, is choose your conference. For those of us who write cozies, Malice Domestic, held the last weekend in April or first in May every year, in Bethesda, MD is the place to be. There’s a good mix of writers and readers which provides a great opportunity to renew friendships, share ideas and grab some tips, and to foster new readers all the while having a fun time schmoozing.

The secret is this – cozy readers love cozy mysteries and that means, they love meeting the authors. If you don’t think you’re a cozy reader, beware – you might be. Cozy refers to a gentler mystery, one where excesses in sex, language and violence seldom if ever grace the page. Of course, there are murders! But there’s not the detailed descriptions nor the accompanying forensics to taint the reader’s gentle reading experience.

More often these days, cozies are alternatively referred to as traditional mysteries. You know, like Agatha Christie used to pen. We have a puzzle, a full cast of characters, and a setting that plays a large role. In fact, most cozy mysteries come in series, because the readers want to meet their characters in more than one book and see how their lives evolve.

Do not make the mistake of thinking cozies are fluff. Of course, some may be, but by and large they deal with important social issues, they highlight strong heroines in the roles of amateur sleuths, and justice prevails. Some are decidedly edgier than others; some are more humorous; some appeal to pet lovers; some to handicrafters…cozies run the gamut of reading tastes.

Another conference that fits that bill is Left Coast Crime which appeals to a wider audience but where cozy writers and readers also feel welcome. Having just come back from LCC 2016 in Phoenix, AZ (another advantage of this conference set in the dead of winter – the hot left coast locations!), I’m still pumped and have jumped back into my rewrites with renewed vigour.

There are also numerous regional mystery conferences across the country such a Killer Nashville, Magna Cum Murder, and Sleuthfest. In fact, you probably don’t have to travel too far to find one that fits your reading and writing tendencies.

Promotion is such an important part of being an author these days and being visible is a key factor in this. It’s all well and good to use social media but nothing can beat face-to-face and word-of-mouth.

So, my advice is to save your pennies, choose wisely, and to go out and enjoy!

I’d like to end with a special thank you to my good friend Barbara Fradkin for inviting me to Type M for Mystery!

A Tinkerer's Process

One week. Two books.

It happens every year: I get deep into next year's book – into that space where the little voices inside my head won't leave me alone, and I'm thinking of the characters and the plot when I walk, eat, even wake from sleep thinking about the book I'm writing.

Then the package arrives containing the proof pages of this year's book. I push the voices aside, take up my pencil, and make any final, final edits. It's stressful and time consuming, and when I'm done and have emailed any necessary changes to my editor always leaves me having to reread the entire work-in-progress again, starting from page one.

Rereading is always a good thing. Partially because I'm a tinkerer. I'm the kind of writer who is "never finished." I can tweak and cut and tweak and cut until the final manuscript looks like this:

,

Yes, a single comma.

One thing I've found over the years is that I edit best on paper, not on the computer screen – an odd admission for a teacher who only collects papers electronically and who corrects them on an iPad. But, for me, there's something to be said for editing in longhand.

Here's the work-in-progress:

It's ugly. Not a line escaped revision. And this is third draft.

I've written on Type M that I listen to my work using text to speech as part of my editing process. That's extremely helpful. But, for me, during the early stages especially, nothing beats sitting down with pencil and pages in the quiet of an early-morning house and slashing away.

I'd love to start a thread and hear about others' editing process.

An Oasis in the Desert

Sybil here. As you read this, I’m on my annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas for the Creative Painting convention. Right now I’m probably prowling the trade show floor in search of the latest designs and supplies to spend money on.

I’ve loved Vegas ever since my first visit in the late 70s when I was in college. Something about it fascinates me. Normally, I dislike crowds and excess noise but I make an exception for two places: Sin City and Disneyland.

Vegas is a city of constant change. There’s always something new to see. The casinos on the Strip reinvent themselves on almost a yearly basis. They add rooms, change themes and attractions, refurbish their look... Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of those changes myself. Most of the really old casinos on the Strip are long gone. Circus Circus remains but across the street the Riviera is now closed, waiting to be imploded to make way for convention and meeting facilities for the nearby convention center.

It should come as no surprise that I like fiction set in Vegas as well as non-fiction accounts of its history. The most recent mystery I read that was set there is Ghost of a Gamble by Sue Ann Jaffarian, book 4 in the Ghost of Granny Apples mystery series.

In it, spiritual medium Emma Whitecastle with the help of the ghost of her great-great, etc., grandmother, Granny Apples, solves a mystery “involving a casino heist gone bad, a hidden stash of stolen loot, and a missing wise guy who’s not letting death come between him and setting things straight.” If you like a little paranormal in your mystery, check it out. It’s a fun read.

On the non-fiction end, I’ve been reading Sharks in the Desert by John L. Smith, a history of Las Vegas from its mob beginnings to around 2005 when the book was published. A lot has changed in the past ten years, but it’s still an interesting read. Super Casino: Inside the “New” Las Vegas by Pete Earley is also worth reading.

The Las Vegas Sun Times maintains a history section of its website with all kinds of interesting information on the city from maps to videos to a timeline of its history. I particularly like the interactive map of the Strip where you can see how it’s changed decade by decade.

That’s it for me for now. Hope you’re all having a good week. I’ll see you after I get back from Vegas.

For the Sake of Humanity

By Vicki Delany

It can be hard, sometimes, to come up with something new and interesting to say every two weeks here at Type M. My colleagues often have insightful comments and thought-provoking essays about the state of the world or the creative drive. Me, not so much.

SO, when I was trying to find inspiration for this weeks' attempt, I went back to the archives. I found something I wrote seven years ago. I'd say it still holds true.

**

Why Do I write?

I do it for the sake of humanity.

I have to admit that I have no overwhelming need to write. No particular drive. I don’t go gaga if denied the opportunity to write. If I can’t write... I don’t.

I guess I do it because it’s fun and I like it. Sorry. Not even the overwhelming desire for fame and fortune forces me to put fingers to keyboard (and if that had been my motivation I would have given up a long time ago).

As I was preparing this confessional missive, to prove, once and for all, that I am a frivolous writer, I happened upon a discussion about a book titled The Origin of Stories by Brian Boyd. (http://www.salon.com/books/review/2009/05/18/evocriticism/index.html)

Boyd argues that we write because it is an evolutionary imperative.

“when we create and share stories with each other, we build and reinforce the cooperative bonds within groups of people (families, tribes, towns, nations), making those groups more cohesive and in time allowing human beings to lord it over the rest of creation.”

Stories, even made up stories, help us to negotiate the social world in which we, the most social of all species, live. The book argues that “Fiction also fosters a part of cognition known as the ‘theory of mind,’ one person's understanding that another person has feelings, desires, intentions and beliefs, the latter of which may or may not be correct.”

Which happens to be a point that I have often made about the vital importance of reading versus other leisure activities such as watching TV or going to the movies or listening to music on your iPad. Only by reading do we actually get to step into another person’s head. We can watch a movie, and identify with the character, understand his/her motivations, root for the hero, but we are still outsiders, as we are in real life. We are observing that person, we are not that person.

I’m reading Hard Rain by Barry Eisler at the moment. As I read that book, written in the first person POV of a hired assassin, I AM the assassin. I am watching over my shoulder constantly, checking every step I make, contently planning an escape route, trusting no one. I can break a man’s neck with a twist of my hand.

Will I ever have to know those skills here in Prince Edward County, Ontario?

Probably not. And if I had to, I’d forget them all in an instant. But my point is, and I think the point of Boyd’s book, is that I have an insight into a portion of humanity that I would not otherwise ever be able to have.And that insight helps to forge the social bonds that are essential for the survival of humanity.

I now know why I write: I do it for the good of the human race.

You can thank me later.

The Con Game

When I first I got published, I couldn't wait to attend the various mystery cons like Bouchercon, Left Coast Crime, and Men of Mystery. What I soon discovered was that the audience seemed to be mostly other mystery writers and those fans in attendance were there for the big name headliners. Typical of any fan response was when I hosted a Men of Mystery table and I could tell the people were disappointed in being assigned to a writer of vampire novels. At mystery cons, fans are interested in the authors of traditional hardback mysteries and fantasy stories are usually ignored. Of course, if my name was Charlaine Harris or Joe Hill, then it would've been a different ball game. As it was, I'd be lucky to sign five copies of my books. I tried a couple of ThrillerFests. Each long weekend would set me back close to two grand for airfare, hotel, conference fee, meals, and the bar tab. For my money and trouble I'd get one panel, usually at 9 AM, and maybe ten people in the audience.

On the other hand, science-fiction/fantasy cons proved worth attending. A literary event like MileHiCon will attract over 1,200 attendees, while the various Comic Cons will bring in tens of thousands, numbers that rival the L.A. Times Festival of Books. (For the record, I've sold plenty of books there.) Last weekend I was at PensaCon--one of the smaller Comic Cons--and it tallied over 38,000 visitors. So you can see how the numbers at science-fiction/fantasy cons stack in my favor. Typically, I might sit on five-six panels and I can expect anywhere from thirty to fifty in the audience, sometimes over a hundred. Fans seek me out to sign my books or to meet me in the dealer's booth.

Lately, I've gotten connected with WordFire Press. What impressed me about their operation is that they hustle and sell books. Take a look at that booth--the Tower of Nerd--and compare that to what Barnes & Noble might offer. WordFire also cranks up the publicity machine to get the word out. But setting up and staffing that booth is work.

Don't get me wrong, Bouchercon and Left Coast Crime are a blast. Mystery writers are a great bunch to hang out with and toss back drinks. But publishing is a business and I have to follow the money.

Crime and Consequences

February is a "sweeps month" (a period during which data are collected from television viewers). Ratings are important, and on soap operas ("day-time dramas"), the writers lure their audience with hints of new plot twists and long-awaited "reveals" (when life-changing secrets known by the audience are revealed to the characters who have been going along in ignorance). These reveals are of personal and/or business betrayals – adultery and affairs, baby stealing (of an infant thought to have died and/or switched paternity tests), corporate conspiracies and dirty tricks, crime cover-ups (hit-and-run, is a favorite), drug and alcohol addiction/relapses…you get the idea. I could run through the alphabet. And the thing is, those of us who have watched a soap opera for years can predict weeks or even months in advance what is likely to happen when a reveal comes. In fact, soap operas writers often foreshadow the change-partners-and-hope-to-live-happily-ever-after romantic consequences that will follow the reveals.

This week on The Young and the Restless, a powerful thunderstorm roared through Genoa City, Wisconsin (home of three major corporations). As viewers knew they would, the lights went out and after some shuffling about and going out in this fierce storm for various reasons, two former couples (who are now married to other people) were sharing memories and concerns. Another pair, a younger brother and his somewhat older sister-in-law, were discussing their efforts to bring down the evil businessman, Victor Newman, and the consequences for their respective marriages if their spouses should find out. Did I mention that younger brother, Billy Abbott, is about to marry Victor Newman's daughter for the third (fourth?) time. A perpetually star-crossed union because Billy can't get his act together and the Abbotts own a family corporation that Victor Newman is forever trying to destroy, and Victoria is devoted to her father and works for him. Billy has promised – after almost dying, but making a miraculous recovery after life-support was turned off (and providing an opportunity for a new actor to step into the role – "now played by" ) – what was I saying? Oh, yes, we had foreshadowing…

And, if you are wondering why I'm recapping this week on The Young and the Restless, it's because Victor Newman has a gun in his office.

Just this week, he threatened the son of the Mafia family that he borrowed money from with that gun. Victor wants to pay back the money, but the son won't let him out of the deal and has forced his way into Victor's company. Victor has tried dirty tricks, now he is trying threats of bodily harm. The son is in hiding with Victor's granddaughter (who saw the threat with the gun on a hidden feed from Victor's office that Natalie, the computer nerd with the cyber-security invention that Victor wants, had put there). Natalie is afraid of Victor, too, because she is working with his competitors. Summer, the granddaughter, was so freaked out that she went down to tell Paul, the police chief, and his son, Dylan, a detective, that she thought her grandfather was going to have his son (who Victor is blackmailing about the paternity of a "dead" baby) kill the Mafia mobster (who is young and charming). And Nikki, Victor's long-suffering wife, a former stripper and alcoholic who is occasionally driven to drink, who has left and returned to him too many times to count, has learned that Victor brought about the rape of his rival's wife by kidnapping the real Jack Abbott on his honeymoon and substituting a double (a drug lord he found in a South American prison) for Jack. Jack's wife, Phyllis, a red-headed firebrand, spent months with fake Jack, gradually realizing something was wrong, but not able to figure out what (remember "willing suspension of disbelief"). When Jack returned, Victor threatened to reveal Jack had killed people (including his psychotic ex-lover) to escape. But Jack kept quiet for Phyllis's sake. She couldn't bear to have anyone know. But she wants revenge. She has been plotting with Jack's younger brother, Billy (who is about to find out what Victor did and has his own reasons for hating him). Nikki, the long-suffering wife overheard a conversation and she knows, too. She has decided she has to save Victor from himself, save his soul, by bringing him down. She is plotting with the son he is blackmailing.

And Victor has a gun.

I like to think that the writers might have cut their teeth on Dallas and are about to treat us to the Genoa City version of "Who Shot J.R.?" For months, viewers have been complaining on one of the discussion boards about how Victor gets away with all of his dastardly deeds. Many are convinced the writers read the discussion boards and respond eventually. Victor and his gun – who shot Victor? Who will undoubtedly not die and live to be dastardly again. But for a moment, his crimes will have consequences.

I've been thinking about The Young and The Restless because I'm writing an academic article about crime fiction for a digital encyclopedia. I have 8,000-10,000 words for my topic. I've been thinking about how pervasive stories about crime are in other popular culture genres. Even on soap operas – especially on soap operas – there must be a police department and attorneys and judges. These characters are a part of the cast and have their own secrets and woes. Arrests are made. But, on soap operas, justice is rarely done. Innocent people are put on trial; guilty people are saved from punishment because their crimes are covered-up or officials are blackmailed. But, even knowing, that in the fictional world of Genoa City, Victor, the villain, will find a way to protect his family and his company, viewers long for justice. They want to see Victor punished (not necessarily dead, but brought low). In fact, Victor has on occasion been temporarily defeated, but the people who love him always hope he can be brought to realize that what he does harms both them and himself. They hope they can save his soul.

So Victor has a gun. And on this soap opera, if the writers know their Chekhov, someone will use it. Will Victor be the victim? Will one of the people he has hurt pick up his own gun and shoot him? Tune in tomorrow, same time, same place. I'll be there trying to figure out why decades after I watched this soap opera as a child, with my mother (who was on maternity leave) that I am still tuning in. I'm pretty sure it is because of this weaving of mystery and romance and the characters (played by terrific actors) about whom the audience care and feel they know well. Yes, the writers sometimes seem to forget who the characters are (literally re-writing the back story longtime viewers remember) and yes, characters sometimes act "out of character" for the sake of plot. But then there are those moments, when the actors make the characters ring true and the plot takes a "didn't see that coming" twist.

As you might have gathered, this post is my thinking through crime in this genre. I won't treat my academic audience to this detailed account of what's been happening on The Young and the Restless. But I will discuss how crime and consequences turns up in other genres – soap operas, situation comedies, musicals. And audiences watch because they hope that justice will triumph. In soaps, it won't last, but there is that brief moment…an incredibly melodramatic moment that is morally questionable. We have those moments in our books. Except readers of traditional mysteries would expect a Victor Newman to die and set the investigation in motion. Then the secrets would be revealed.

Got to go, time to tune in.

Writer's Conferences I Have Known And Loved

I (Donis) am not actually here today, Dear Reader. I am attending the Left Coast Crime conference in Phoenix. I thought it would be interesting to post photos from the conference, but I am new to my phone/camera and don't yet know how to post pictures without being in physical contact with my computer. Perhaps if someone will lend me their ten-year-old to teach me, I'll learn how before my next picture-taking event.

So, in the interim, I am posting for your enjoyment photos from some of the many writer's/fan conferences I have attended over the past ten years. There are too many to cover every one, so I just picked out some highlights, especially if they are photos in which I look pretty good. Join me on my virtual trip down conference memory lane.

With Larry Karp, Bouchercon, Anchorage, AK

Women Writing the West, Colorado Springs, CO

Hmm. I'm wearing the same wrap, though these photos were taken some years apart. I like that durn wrap. I still wear it a lot.

Tucson, AZ

I like the red sunglasses. I do the Tucson Festival of Books every year. It is huge. Hundreds of authors and tens of thousands of readers attend.

Tucson, AZ

Of course the one thing an author almost always does at a conference is sign books. This signing is at Tucson with Elizabeth Gunn and Hilary Davidson

Malice Domestic, Bethesda, MD

My first Malice Domestic, With Charlotte Hinger and Clea Simon

OWFI Annual Conference, Oklahoma City, OK

Oklahoma Writer's Federation International. I'm standing on a mezzanine landing in the conference hotel. I taught three workshops here that year.

Murder Mysteries and the West, Tempe, AZ

That's me in the blue talking to a reader after the panel discussion. Barbara Peters, my editor and owner of Poisoned Pen Bookstore, is in the white, and the cowboy-hatted Reavis Wortham is next to her. Susan Slater is trying to hide behind the pillar.

Cozy Con, Phoenix, AZ

This event had so many well-known writers that I don't have room to list them all. (Besides the fact that this was a few years ago and I don't remember who a couple of these people are) How many can you name?

Cozy Con, Phoenix, AZ

Though I do have to mention these three, sitting on the left side, next to me on the end, because they are three of my favorite people: left to right, Carolyn Hart, Hannah Dennison, and Earlene Fowler.










(All photos taken by Donis Casey, Donald Koozer, or an obliging waiter.)

Juggling schedules and other silly things

Barbara here. Well, here it is, Tuesday evening just hours before my Type M post is due. Yikes! I am flying out to Left Coast Crime tomorrow morning at 7 a.m., I have ironing and packing to do, and because 5 a.m. is too early to even think of blow-drying my hair, I have to shower and do my hair tonight. Left Coast Crime is my favourite mystery conference, being held in Phoenix this year, a city about which I know almost nothing, except that it's in the desert and it's hot. Right now in Ottawa, the temperatures range from -25C on a bad day to 0 if you're lucky. My typical winter wardrobe consists of fleeces, wool long johns, fleeces, parkas, toques... Well, you get the idea.

In Phoenix, the temperature is apparently in the 25-30 C range. Tank tops, capri pants, and flip flops weather. So yesterday, I had to dig out my summer wardrobe, see whether any of it fit (winter, as we all know, is the time to add extra fat cells for insulation), wash and iron those articles of clothing that passed not only the "does it still fit" test but also the "can I wear this anywhere fancier than cleaning the oven" test. It's amazing the number of stains and holes that have appeared since I last wore those clothes.

But I now have a suitable wardrobe selected, washed, and piled on the ironing board. The suitcase lies open on the bed, half packed, waiting for those freshly ironed clothes. And I remember. Toenails! That's part of the summer fashion statement. All winter long the toenails are rarely seen, buried beneath socks and fur-lined moccasins, or stuffed into giant, clunky boots. Now they will be on full display! I love the freedom of sandals and flip flops. I love the sexy, flirty feeling of red-tipped toes. But I have a lot of work before these sorry-looking specimens are going to flirt with anyone!

Ta-dah!

I was just figuring out my timeline for the evening. Ironing, packing, showering, blow-drying, painting toenails... And then I remembered this blog. My schedule is shot to hell. So I apologize for this frivolous, fashionista-style rant. It will have to do for tonight. I promise that the serious writer will return next time, and report on all the important and profound things I learned at the mystery conference. But for now, red toenails await!

And if you're in Phoenix for Left Coast Crime, look me up to say hi, and I will show you the shallower, sillier side of being a writer! But what's a ying without a yang?

Keeping your “writing brain” in shape

by Rick Blechta

I haven’t been able to work on my novel for the past three+ weeks. It’s not that I don’t want to or can’t be bothered. It’s just that I have a huge graphic design job (that also includes writing the copy) on the go, something that would probably be more wisely accomplished by two people. But since my studio only has one lazy stupid employee (namely, me), the job has to fall onto that one person. So, for the moment, writing crime fiction had completely gone out the window.

But hey! I’m still writing, aren’t I? Only it’s advertising copy, but that’s still writing writing. Right? Unfortunately, the answer is no.

I found out that cold hard fact when I got home from a rehearsal last night feeling low and miserable (mostly due to the horrendous cold I currently have) and wanted to do something I wanted to do (other than practising, which wouldn’t fly after a two-hour rehearsal). I sat down to work on my current in-progress novel, read the chapter where I’d stopped back in January and stared at a blank page for the next chapter for at least five minutes. I knew what I wanted to write, but I just could not make it come out. Probing deeper, it was as if there was a screen between me and what I had planned to write.

Huh? Perhaps it was just that I was tired (I was, exhausted, actually). Because of the stimulus of rehearsal, my brain was nowhere near ready for sleep. What to do? I didn’t want to read; I really wanted to write!

My fail-safe dodge in these cases is to write something for the ms — maybe just not what I was planning on writing. I started down that pathway, but the blockage remained. Next tactic was going back and doing a bit of editing on previously written stuff. Problem was, I’d already done most of what I could — at least at this point in the process.

Now I was getting frustrated. What the heck was going on? I tried outlining what was supposed to happen in the new chapter: character X would realize this, while character Y, in a different location, would stumble onto new information, then there would be a phone call between the two characters. That’s not much to ask for, is it? How hard can that be?

I spread out each of the points on my page to allow space to actually write these three little scenes. I probed into my imagination for scene one. I couldn’t figure out how to begin. Scene two...not much. Scene three, however, did at least yield an opening sentence about character Y taking out her mobile to call character X. How would character X answer? (He’s a bit of an irascible bastard at times) Would he be in a good mood or a bad one? (Flipped a mental coin) Good mood. He tends to give out more personal information when he’s in a good mood, so I could work in a passing reference to something I’ve been looking to add about him for a couple of chapters.

Eureka, I was finally plugged in and going. I only got down about a page-worth of usable stuff before my tired brain pooped out, but at least I could go to bed feeling as if I’d accomplished something.

It wasn’t until this morning that I realized a good part of the issue last night was the fact that I hadn’t done anything with my novel over the past several weeks. Sure, I’ve been thinking about it. I’d even made a few notes. But I haven’t been exercising that creative part of my brain where the story is residing and it had atrophied to the point where I couldn’t easily connect with it.

The course ahead is clear: I have to make time to at least write something for the novel every day. Thinking about it won’t cut it, and making notes, while helpful, doesn’t do enough, either. I’ve got to be getting down actual prose every day or risk hitting that blank wall again.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Now you’ll have to excuse me, I’ve got until noon to help out my poor stalled ms.

Questions, questions

Like Vicki last week, I too have been enjoying my hibernation. We've even had a whole week with nothing at all in the diary and time to catch up on all sorts of stuff. But now the gales and rain we've had over the winter have given way to wonderful clear cold days with very blue skies, the snowdrops and crocuses are coming out and there is even a shy clump of primroses under a bush.

So the events are starting up again too. There are two in the next month, one a festival a hundred miles north, not far from Aberdeen and one closer to home here where I'll be speaking to a book club. Very considerately, they've primed me: they've told me they want me to think what are the three most common things I'm asked as a writer, and how I reply – much easier than having to um and er while I think about it.

The first one's easy – where do you get your ideas from? It's usually asked with a sort of 'Bet you never thought of this one!' expression. I always have to fight the temptation to say, 'Oh, didn't you know? There's this little shop in London. If you want an original idea, it's very expensive but second-hand ones are remarkably cheap,' but of course I don't.

The image I sometimes use is of the representation of the primordial soup that you can see in a museum in Edinburgh, Dynamic Earth; a sort of sludge swilling round and round and every so often a bubble rises to the top and bursts – that's my brain, coming up with an idea..

But of course the truth is that you get your ideas from everything, all the time – a snatch of conversation, a story in a newspaper, something you notice in passing – and then the idea works in your mind and the story emerges, if you're lucky. It's not a very neat answer, though – if anyone can suggest a better one, I will use it shamelessly.

Second question: what do you write with? It seems a bit irrelevant, particularly since nowadays I guess there are very few people who write on anything other than a computer, but  for me it is quite an interesting one, having cut my writing teeth in the days when you wrote longhand, then typed it up, in duplicate using a carbon, with a pot of Typex beside you that within days of opening would deposit sticky white blobs everywhere. And of course if you made ms changes, it meant not only retyping the page with those changes, but the subsequent pages as well if you wanted the finished document to look professional.

So moving on to a computer transformed my life, but the switchover took some time. I would write longhand, then get it up on the screen for revision. After that, I got to the stage where I could whizz along until I got to a point where something wasn't working and I'd go back to longhand – I always felt I could then 'hear'  my characters better. The day I realised I really  had transferred to computer completely was when I realised I was making 'hearing' spelling mistakes – 'your' for 'you're', 'there' for 'their'. (And thanks to Beelzebub – see previous posts – I had to return to longhand for a bit and I didn't like it at all.)

The third one, 'Do you put real people in your books?' is often followed by, 'You won't go putting me in one, will you?' with an arch look. The honest response would be, 'Not if I want anyone to read it, no,' but I usually say that I don't, in general, since characters in books can't be as inconsistent and unpredictable as real people are. But if pushed, I sometimes confess that there was one murder that gave me a therapeutic outlet and stopped me saying things to the person in question that I would have deeply regretted later – and of course I made sure she would never have recognised herself!

I'm looking forward to this book club meeting – they sound an interesting bunch. The only problem is I shall have to take time to re-read the book they've been reading since they will almost certainly remember more about it than I do!

Getting Dressed to Kill

 by Cathy Ace

  

Thanks to the TYPE M team for inviting me along today – this is a super blog with some great insights for those who enjoy taking, or reading about, the creative voyage. Looking at the list of regular bloggers I’m keenly aware I’m a relative neophyte, so it’s not surprising if my name is new to you. My first novel was published in March 2012, and I’m still discovering something new about the creative process and the crime-writing business every day. Discovering new authors and readers is a part of that joy, so if we’re new to each other – hello, nice to meet you!

A lot has changed in my life over the past four years, as one would imagine when a person embarks upon a third career in their fifties. But I have realized that something has come full circle – and it involves a dressing gown. Let me explain…

When I wrote the first Cait Morgan Mystery, The Corpse with the Silver Tongue, in the winter of 2010, I was still teaching at university and squishing my creative writing into “stolen time”. For that first novel I would plant myself at my desk as soon as I got out of bed (and had thrown the ball around for the dogs, and made coffee…you know) and wouldn’t move until I’d done what I needed to do that day in terms of word count. It meant I, essentially, wrote that book in my dressing gown and slippers.

Since then I have written ten more books across two series and each has brought different challenges, but there’s been one constant, and ever more keenly-felt reality; I’ve discovered that with each extra title published, the promotional effort required of me seems to increase exponentially. This means that, although I no longer teach at university, I am still squishing my creative writing into “stolen time”. It’s weird. I wouldn’t have believed it if someone had told me this was how it would be. It seems that being a “full-time author” means I’m still a “part-time writer”.

When I mention this to those who have much more experience than me, their response tends to involve the rolling of eyes and a world-weary smile conveying “now you know how it feels”. So, this is the norm, it seems. The new norm. I admit I struggle with it. It seems it’s more difficult for me to compartmentalize “work” and “creativity” when the work is promoting the output of my creative effort. And there’s the problem you see – without the creative output, there’s nothing to promote; without the promotional effort, there aren’t the sort of sales figures a publisher wants to support. It’s both, or nothing, so I’m trying to reach the right type of balance for me. As any author does, for them.

Thus, over the past few months, I’ve gone back to the basics; I wrote my first novel wearing a green silk dressing gown, and I am currently writing my eleventh wearing another green silk dressing gown. I don’t write first thing in the morning anymore; being on the west coast I find my email inbox is already quite busy when I get up, and my brain tells me I have to deal with “work” before I can feel fully “creative”, so now I work all day, then write at night. I pull on my dressing gown and slippers, and sit at my desk from about 9.30pm until maybe 1am or 2am to write. The house is dark and quiet, my husband and the dogs are asleep, any emails I receive can reasonably wait until the next day to be answered…so it’s just me and my characters. And my dressing gown.

And about that dressing gown…I love old movies, the black and white ones you see on TCM where so many of the glamorous 1930’s stars sported a fluid, embroidered, kimono-style dressing gown. I admit I coveted those flowing garments, so determined to find one for myself. And I did. In a tiny store specializing in Asian artefacts in British Columbia’s New Westminster, just half a block away from the Raymond Burr Theatre, I found an entire rail of silk kimonos. Black on one side, a variety of solid colors on the other, the fact they were embroidered with dragons (being Welsh means I have a soft spot for our national emblematic creature) and reversible meant I went a bit mad and bought three! I’ve worn the two green ones so far – I’m saving up the blue one for future use. One dressing gown per series of books; one dressing gown for each set of characters. It might sound a bit odd, but I find that getting dressed to kill really helps my creative process – the slippers don’t seem to matter so much, but the dressing gown plays a big part.

Maybe you could help me out here – is it just me who does this? Do you have other “rituals” that help you get into the creative frame of mind? I know some authors have a favorite writing spot, some have a preferred time of day – but clothes?

Cathy Ace is the author of two series: the Bony Blithe Award-winning Cait Morgan Mysteries (book #7 The Corpse with the Garnet Face is published in April 2016) feature a Welsh Canadian professor of criminal psychology who sleuths her way around the world tackling traditional, closed-circle mysteries; the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries (book #2 The Case of the Missing Morris Dancer was published in February 2016) feature four softly-boiled female PIs who operate their business out of a converted barn on a ducal estate in Wales. Cathy is National Vice President of Crime Writers of Canada, and also belongs to Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime and the UK’s Crime Writers’ Association. Her website is here: http://cathyace.com.

Virtual Book Club Talk

I've begun setting up my June book tour for Destiny's Pawn, and like any frugal author, I'm trying to get the most bang for my buck.

My pilgrimage north usually takes a week, starting in western Massachusetts and concluding in northern Maine – some 600 miles later – where the Peyton Cote novels are set. I sign at various stores, street events, read, and this year will even host an "author luncheon" to benefit a local library. As you can imagine, it's a costly friend-raising journey. Last summer, I had $500 into the trip before hotel costs.

Something happened last week that has me (almost) rethinking this whole thing: Laura Cummings, at White Birch Bookstore, reached out to host a signing on said tour and mentioned her store's book club was discussing Bitter Crossing. Coincidentally, after my students recently read Naomi Hirahara's terrific Murder of Bamboo Lane, I shot Naomi an e-mail to see if she'd be interested in hosting a Google Hangout session Q@A with my students. She said sure, and we successfully used Google.

So when Laura mentioned her book club, I offered to do the same. We used Google Hangouts for this event, too, and it worked reasonably well.

A new business model? A more cost-effective one for sure.

Can a virtual author visit replace a face-to-face interaction? No way. But North Conway, NH, is three hours from my house. I spoke to maybe ten readers and answered questions for 30 minutes. And I was still home to read my 7-year-old daughter a story and kiss her goodnight. And the trip didn't cost so much as one cup of coffee, let alone gas expenses.

Will the virtual author visit replace the real deal? Not anytime soon. But there's a definite upside to this structure. And it makes me wonder how authors will be interacting with readers in the future.

Author Branding, What's That?

The idea of branding confuses me some. I suspect it always will. I’ve never worked in retail or dealt with marketing, although family members have so I’m not completely ignorant of what goes on. Still, I don’t have that kind of mind.

From what I can tell, branding is a way of differentiating a product from others so you get noticed. I hear about author branding often enough I figure I should learn more about it so I was looking forward to a presentation on the subject at last Sunday’s Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles meeting.

The speaker was multi-series author Diane Vallere. I’m amazed by how much she gets done and how fearless she is. I’ve seen her go from self-published author of two series to author of four series: 1 self-published, 2 published by a large publisher and 1 published by a smaller publisher. SinC/LA member Ellen Byron even wrote a blog post on WWDVD—What Would Diane Vallere Do.

On her website, Diane notes she writes “Fiction for women who like shoes, clues and clothes.” That’s her brand. It’s catchy and you know when you read something she wrote fashion will be some part of the book.

I came away from the meeting still somewhat confused but a little wiser about branding. Here’s a brief summary of Diane’s talk on Creating Your Brand.

Why the need for branding? There are a lot of books out there. It’ll help you distinguish yourself from the pack. And readers will know what to expect from one of your books. It’ll help you effectively promote everything you write and decide whether a publicity opportunity is worth the effort.

What your brand is and is not. Your brand is not your book or you. It’s not someone else’s brand, e.g. don’t say your books are just like Stephen King’s. Your brand is recurring elements in your books. As mentioned above, for Diane that’s fashion. Your brand is bigger than your genre, it’s everything you write.

Where to use your brand. Facebook author page, twitter, in graphic images used for promotion, newsletters... E.g., if fashion is a common theme throughout your books, you would post items related to fashion on social media. Diane is known for posting photos of clothes she packs for conferences.

Exercises to help you discover your brand by identifying common elements in the things you’ve written or want to write.

1) If you had a guarantee your next five books would sell a lot of copies what would you write? Write down five different ideas, writing as much as comes to mind. What do they have in common?

2) Think of at least three movies you wish you’d written because they fit you. What themes run through them?

3) What are your personal interests that are also in your books?

That’s what I got out of the talk. I probably missed a few things here and there. I’ve invited Diane to correct me. We’ll see what she says. I haven’t done the exercises yet. I think they’ll help me figure out my brand. And, if I get stuck, I’ll just ask myself WWDVD.

Your favourite place to read or write

It’s snowy and finally feels like winter here in Toronto (better late than never!), and on this type of day it’s perfect to curl up with a good book. (Which is, sadly, something I can’t do today.)

Today I have two questions for everyone. The first everyone can answer (and I encourage you to so do!), and the second is for the writers out there, and the answers might well be very different.

First question: Where do you like to read? If you could pick the perfect spot(s), where would they be? I have a few choices. I love to set up in front of a fire on a cold day. On a hot day, nothing is better than a spot near some water, especially if there’s a wide vista to look at from time to time. When it’s cold, I like a hot beverage and the opposite is true when it’s hot. Nothing alcoholic, please, because I’ll fall asleep in short order. So where are these two ideal places for me? One is in a 150-year-old log home near Perth, Ontario, which I used in a scene in The Fallen One. The warm weather has two locations. One is the town over from where I grew up. It has a lovely spot, Manor Park overlooking the Long Island Sound. It has numerous benches under the trees where you can look right across the sound at Glen Cove on the opposite shore. I haven’t been there in years, but maybe it’s time to spend a few hours there this summer. The second spot is on Flowerpot Island off the tip of the Bruce Peninsula. It is a gorgeous spot with numerous good vantage points overlooking Georgian Bay.

So there are my choices. Where are yours?

Second question: If you’re a writer, where do you like to write? My answer is more complex. The first I haven’t been able to indulge in very much, and that’s to rent a place in a foreign country (Italy or France would be nice) and spend a few months there working on a novel. That would really be a slice of heaven. My second choice and something I can do much more easily is to write at the Osgoode Hall law library. It is a magnificent room, quiet and dignified and it’s generally open to the public. In this room I find it really easy to concentrate for long periods.

What are your choices for favourite places to write?

Please take a few moments to share your favourites. I thank you!

Emerging from Hibernation

By Vicki Delany

Everyone seems to be talking about time pressures lately.

Which is why I love winter in Canada so much.  To me January and February are hibernating time. I can go days on end without talking to anyone. I’ll venture out to go to the grocery store, and I might be persuaded to meet friends for dinner, but otherwise, I’m holed up in my den.

Me, at home. I walk a lot in the winter, particularly when the ground is snow covered and I can access the snowmobile paths through the woods and across the farmer’s fields.

All ready to venture outside

In Canada everyone asks everyone, particularly if they don’t have a “regular” job, if they’re going away (meaning South) for the winter. I always reply that I never travel in the winter.  It’s my ME time.

I like to stay home in summer too, but summer is a time of chores, isn’t it? The lawn to be cut, the garden to look after. The swimming pool to use, and company to entertain.

In the winter, I write, I do writing chores as Donis alluded to in her recent post, I do jigsaw puzzles, I read a good deal, I take snowy walks, and I watch an hour or so on Netflix most evenings.

Perfect!

I’m off to Phoenix at the end of February, and although I’m looking forward to it very much, I’d rather it was a couple of weeks later. I’m not going to be ready to emerge from hibernation quite yet.

Speaking of Left Coast Crime, and adding to what Donis and Barbara had to say, as well as at the conference I’ll be at the Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scottsdale on Wednesday, January 24^th as part of their international authors night. And doesn’t that sound like a lot of fun!  As well as full roster of LCC events (two panels, speed-dating for authors, and the Poisoned Pen Press breakfast) I’ll be at the Crime Writers of Canada reception Friday at 5:30 in my role as president of the CWC. We have a fun event planned full of authors. Enter out quiz and you might win a great prize.

I hope to see many of you there.  And if not, I hope you’re enjoying your winter too.

The view from my kitchen window

Guest post the weekend: Simon Wood

Our guest author this weekend is none other than Simon Wood, an old friend of Type M for Murder (I believe it’s his sixth guest post) and someone whom I’m sure a lot of you know. He writes damn good books, and if you haven’t read one yet, well hop to it! Welcome back, Simon, and thanks so much for leaping into the breech once again.

I met Simon many years ago when we shared a cell at a prison that shall remain nameless. He was sent up for using a British accent without a permit and I was convicted of writing without a license. We both managed to obtain early release on account of our good looks and broad appeal.*

*Some of the above statements may not be true.

Chaos Theory

by Simon Wood

I saw my author-friend, Tony Broadbent, not too long ago. We hail from the same hometown back in the old country. We got to chatting and he gave me a pat on the head and told me I was an anarchist.

“You’re like the Gary Oldman of the mystery world,” he said.

I love Gary, but I asked, “Is that a good thing?”

“Yes,” he exclaimed. “There’s a lot of anarchy in your writing.”

How subversive, I thought. I’m a rebel without an agenda. Mum will be delighted.

Well, the little exchange got me thinking about my writing. I don’t think people hit the keyboards with an agenda or a theme tucked under their arm—or if they do, it sort of sticks out. Agendas and themes develop on a subconscious level. Well, they do for me. I don’t go out of my way to put a slant on my stories. I just try to entertain, but inadvertently, I show a little leg now and again. So, I looked for the anarchy. And I think I saw it in the shape of conflict.

Conflict. Stories require conflict. It’s a driving force. Characters and stories thrive on it. More so in mysteries and thrillers than other genres. The nature of the genre means there are going to be casualties and collateral damage. So I like to inject my stories with a lot of conflict. The problem is that I’m quite a literal person and I think about things in very pure terms. Blame my engineering background. When I think conflict, I think about total annihilation.

Everything my lead character holds dear is under attack. I create this person so that I can destroy them. I place them and their world in an ivory tower, then go about stacking as much C4 explosive around the foundation as possible to blast it all apart. It only seems fair, doesn’t it? Conflict by its nature is salt to a wound. Character assassination is key. Only by putting everything in a protagonist’s world at extreme risk can the character grow and thrive. There can’t be a comfort zone for this person. Wouldn’t you want to read about a character in a situation like that?

I flicked through some of my stories to see what I did to my characters and the annihilation is there. Characters have their reputations destroyed, home life obliterated, are framed for things for crimes they didn’t commit, have personal property confiscated or stolen or destroyed. These characters’ lives will never be the same. There will have to be a lot of rebuilding by the end.

So I guess I do have anarchistic bent. Sorry. It wasn’t intentional. It’s just the way I tell ’em.

Yours destructively,
Simon

___________________________

Simon Wood is a California transplant from England. He's a former competitive racecar driver, a licensed pilot, an endurance cyclist, an animal rescuer and an occasional PI. He shares his world with his American wife, Julie. Their lives are dominated by a longhaired dachshund and four cats. He's the Anthony Award-winning author of Working Stiffs, Accidents Waiting to Happen, Paying the Piper, Terminated, Asking For Trouble, We All Fall Down and the Aidy Westlake series. His current thriller is THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY which has been optioned for a movie. He also writes horror under the pen name of Simon Janus. Curious people can learn more at http://www.simonwood.net.

How Much of an Escape

Last year in Albany, New York, we had days when there was nothing to do – nothing one could have been expected to do – but stay inside and look out. Last year, we stocked up on cocoa, made huge pots of soup, and anticipated our TV or movie-watching binges, and the books we would read when even adults had "snow days". This year, we have so little snow that I'm embarrassed to mention it when I talk to my relatives in Virginia.

Snow seen through screened window
this morning.

Harry's bored reaction to weather
in Albany this February.

Believe me, I complained along with almost everyone else in the Northeast when we had major snowstorms in mind-boggling succession last year. When I was reduced to tunneling a narrow path from front door to steps out onto the street, I would have been happy to see all the snow disappear. But this year, this lack of snow is spooking me. I know it has gone some place else, but that doesn't make me feel better. This is February in upstate New York. We should have snow – measurable, boots required, weather alert, go-home-before-it-starts snow. I should be complaining about the hard, icy chunks shoved across my driveway by the snowplow clearing my street.

I shouldn't be thinking about my Hannah McCabe books because it hasn't snowed. McCabe, a homicide detective, inhabits an Albany in the near future. I set The Red Queen Dies in 2019 with temperatures in the 90s in late October. A few months later, in What the Fly Saw, a massive January blizzard is headed up the East Coast toward Albany. The murderer strikes during this storm. The weather in McCabe's world is erratic and troubling. Now, the weather in my world is, too.

The thing about writing is that sometimes what one writes as fiction becomes reality. Or, at least close enough to reality to be reason for concern. My two McCabe police procedurals take place as a presidential election is looming. McCabe's father is a retired journalist/newspaper editor. They have several occasion to discuss the candidacy of a third party candidate named Howard Miller who is appealing to people's fears because his campaign begins to intrude into their lives.

Yes, freakish weather has happened in the past. Yes, politicians have often used fear- and anger-laden messages to ride into office. But having spent some time thinking about the future, it feels as if it is coming faster than I expected. My fiction may soon reflect reality.

Not that my fictional world is a dystopia nightmare. I'm not writing science fiction. But I thought by moving a few years ahead and creating an alternate universe Albany, I would be setting my stories in a world that was different from our own.

The lack of February snow in Albany and the 2016 presidential race have gotten me thinking about what I do as a writer. Or, I should say, thinking more deeply about what I do. I am at that point when I need to update my bio, take new author photos, and do some work on my website. I also should have a look at my neglected Facebook page. I know I should send out a newsletter, do the blogs I was going to do on my website about my research, and send out related tweets. I've been thinking about how to present a consistent image as a writer – not just because I read a book about how this is a useful marketing strategy. I have reached a point in my career when having a clear perception of who I am as writer will make my choices easier. I have a list of writing projects that I would love to do – ideas for books and short stories with my current protagonists, a proposal out there for a new series, a historical thriller in progress. And, of course, there is my nonfiction book about dress, appearance, and criminal justice. And a couple of other nonfiction books ideas that I've thought of while writing that one. I have enough potential projects to keep me busy for years. So the question of what to do next – decided in part by discussions with my agent and my editor.

Actually, the larger question is how to write. What do I want to put out there in the world? Do I want my books and short stories to be an escape for readers? Of course, I do. That is why I began reading as a child and one of the reasons I love curling up with a book as an adult. I went through a period as a teenager when I gobbled up romance novels. I still enjoy a good romance. I belong to Romance Writers of America. In my Lizzie Stuart series, there is an overarching love story. But the few times I've thought of writing a romance, the plot morphed into a hybrid romance/mystery. I'm a criminal justice professor. That is reflected in what I write.

I provide escape and entertainment. But I also need – want – to deal with social issues. I provide historical context. My books offer fictional springboards for discussions. That's what I do best.

But if I could write books with happy endings, I might be less concerned when there is so little snow this Albany winter and a presidential campaign season that would make Howard Miller smile.