Taking bets on horses

By Gayle Carline
Mystery Author and Horse Show Competitor

While you are reading this, I am in Burbank, California at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. I've been there since 6:30 in the morning, which meant I had to get up at 5 a.m. to dress and make the hour-long drive from my house.

Have I ever told you I'm not a morning person?

Me before coffee.

As much as I hate getting up early, I love showing my horse. It's a kind of quiet excitement at the show. You wait for your class, then you hurry up and get you and your horse ready, then you get to the arena and warm-up. Then you wait until your number is called and you perform for the judges.

Me and Snoopy at the Del Mar Arena

It's about two hours' worth of work for a three-minute ride.

Many people have a narrow vision of horse riding. They think jumping is the only equine sport (not true), and that everyone wants to ride their horse in a parade (also not true). When I told one woman that I show my horse, she actually said, "Like in the circus?"

Really not true.

Not jumping, not parading, not in the circus.

There are two types of horse shows. One is a breed show, like Arabian or Quarter horses. At breed shows, there are many types of events, and you can show your horse in any of them. Your only requirements are that you have proof that your horse is registered as that breed, and that you are a member of the breed's organization. The other kind of show is purely an organization show. You must belong to the organization, but they don't care what kind of horse you have. These shows are typically, but not always, event-driven, like jumping or dressage. Think Olympics.

MURDER ON THE HOOF, my latest mystery/romantic-suspense is set at an American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) horse show. It will be released in May and I am both excited and frightened. Not a lot of folks are into the equine world, and maybe a romance combined with murder and mystery and secrets galore will not be enough to coax non-horsey people to enter my world.

Still, I am in love with the story and I will remain its loyal servant. I think it's the perfect horse story for people who aren't into horses - all the excitement with none of the smells.

Here's a snippet to whet your appetite. You can read more on May 21 (for Kindle), or order it in paperback on May 24.

* * * * *

Willie felt the push of the mare’s rising back end, then the upward roll of her shoulders. In a few strides, Belle settled into a gentle rocking-horse rhythm. Willie kept her butt digging into the saddle, her left hand trying not to pull up on the reins, and her right hand trying to stay on her leg. Every four strides or so, she reminded herself to breathe.

It takes a lot of work to look this relaxed, she thought.

There was a cluster of young riders at the end of the arena, sitting around on their horses and talking. Not certain if there was room to pass, and not wanting to disturb them, Willie turned across the arena early.

“Hey, watch out,” a man’s voice barked at her.

She looked up to see the same man who’d nearly run into Emily, now barreling toward her like a freight train. Her first impulse was to stop. She raised the reins and breathed, “Ho,” but saw that she was stopping in his direct path. Her second reaction was pure adrenalin—she kicked the mare, who leaped forward and took off running.

All thoughts of how to ride disappeared from Willie’s brain. She braced her weight into her stirrups and pulled on the reins. The effect was not what she wanted. Belle raised her head and yanked forward, adding a hopping motion to her gallop. Willie grabbed the horn, trying to push herself back into the saddle. Her body shifted to the right with each bump. The rapid jostling kept her powerless to either stop the horse or get back in the middle of it.

Damned if I’m gonna come off. With one final thrust, she shoved her body left and down. Belle slowed for a moment, allowing Willie to bend her knees and sit back. The pair settled to a stop. What felt like a ten-minute nightmare was probably not even worth a rodeo’s eight seconds.

Willie let out a deep sigh and looked down at Belle’s head. Tyler and Emily were already at her side.

“I’m so—” Willie began, then choked on the word “sorry.” I’m such an idiot.

“It’s not your fault,” Emily said, helping her off the horse. “Bobby Fermino is a horse’s ass.”

The golden horse trotted over to them, carrying the smiling Bobby. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay, Miss…?”

Unlike Tyler, his dark eyes bored into her with an intimacy she did not welcome. “Willie,” she managed to force out.

Emily scolded him. “Bobby, you’ve really got to be aware of other riders. My client is a novice, trying out a new horse.”

“Again, my apologies, Willie.” Turning to Emily, he added, “Perhaps you should find a quieter arena for your less experienced riders. Are you horse shopping? I have a little gelding with me that might be more suitable for such a petite lady.” He looked at Willie again and smiled, then called out, “Denny, get the roan out.”

She glanced over at the side of the arena. A dark-eyed, tanned young man in skinny jeans and a fitted olive green T-shirt nodded, then hopped into a golf cart and headed toward the barns. Denny, no doubt.

Bobby wheeled his horse around and galloped across the arena, cutting off another rider. Willie turned to Emily.

“I feel so stupid.”

“Don’t. He took you by surprise. Yeah, you could have done a lot of things better, but at least you stayed on.”

“Barely.” Willie sighed. “I just didn’t want to come off, not in front of these people.” Especially not in front of Tyler Handsome.

Emily put her arm around Willie’s shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “There’s a Mexican proverb—‘It’s not enough for a man to know to ride; he must know how to fall.’”

 

 

* * * * *

 

BeeTeeDubs, the show I'll be at is called the Hollywood Charity Horse Show. Bill Shatner will be there - it's cool!

 

 

 

 

 

Does Size Matter?

Written by Teresa Burrell

Author of The Advocate Series

The answer is that sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. We all know the real issue is quality, not quantity. However, if it’s too short, you can be left unsatisfied for sure. So, how long is long enough? This is the question I’ve been wrangling with for the last few weeks. Of course, I’m talking about the length of a novel, but you knew that, right?

I’m writing my latest novel and I do believe this one is going to be a little shorter than the rest because frankly, I’m just getting to the end quicker. Maybe I'm just getting better at this and it doesn't take as many words to make my point. Hmm... I could add another twist or turn, but if I add any more twists I fear my readers may be too dizzy to finish the book. And you never want them to say, “Yeah, that was a little too much.”

Most authors I know talk about the length of a novel in word count. Readers generally refer to it as page count. Several of my author friends say they write between 75 and 80,000 words. And I have to say, they write great novels! Most of my books in the past have been around 90,000 words; the last one was 93,000 because it took that long to get through all the suspects in the case. So I was concerned that if I make this one much shorter than that, my readers might feel cheated. Then I spoke with a dear author friend who said, “It’s too bad we have to worry about such things. I think it's different with ebooks. Just wrap it up and call it good. You’re working too hard.” This came from someone who starts writing at 5:00 in the morning and is churning out four books this year. Yeah, I’m the one working too hard!

So, here are my questions:

Authors: How long are your novels?

Readers: Do you ever consider the length of the book when you make a purchase? And has that changed with digital books?

This has nothing to do with my blog.
I just thought he was cute. 

Triple Thriller Treat!

by L.J. Sellers, author of provocative mysteries & thrillers

Andrew and I both have new books coming out this month, and so does our good friend and fellow T&M author J Carson Black. So I’m taking a moment to share the descriptions for all three.

Andrew’s new book, Darkness and Shadows, a terrific sequel to his bestseller, The Lion, the Lamb, the Hunted, takes up Patrick’s story where he left off. Here’s the provocative book description:

The only woman Patrick Bannister ever loved has died ... again. Struggling professionally and reeling from the psychological wounds left by a horribly abusive mother, Patrick is driven over the edge by a news report. A wealthy socialite couple has been murdered, and while the wife's name isn't familiar, her face certainly is. It's his first and only love, Marybeth, the woman who he lost to a horrific fire years ago.

Is he losing his mind? Patrick's obsession to find the truth sends him scouring records and documents that lead to a shocking discovery: there's no evidence Marybeth ever lived or, for that matter, ever died. Was the love of Patrick's life just a product of his abused psyche?

Reviewers say: “I've never read a better mix of engrossing suspense that also slammed me with heartfelt and raw emotion.”—Jessica Park, New York Times bestselling author

L.J.'s new novel, Crimes of Memory, is the eighth investigation for Detective Jackson. Here’s the cover copy:

Fresh off the leave-of-absence he took following his ex-wife's tragic death, Detective Wade Jackson's life is in upheaval. He struggles to keep his grief-stricken daughter, from succumbing to the same alcoholism demon as her mother. When a body is found in a local storage unit, Jackson hopes a simple open-and-shut homicide case will help him get back on track. But when the victim is identified as ex-con Craig Cooper—a former meth addict who did time for bank robbery, the spoils of which were never recovered—the case becomes challenging.

The same night Cooper is murdered, a firebomb goes off in a bottled water factory on the other side of town. The prime suspects are from an organization called Love the Earth—eco-terrorists. Fears that group is plotting another attack bring to town Jamie Dallas, an undercover agent with a wild streak, and Carla River, an FBI agent with a complicated past. When Jackson discovers a shocking link between the murder case and the bombing, they will all have to work together to solve both crimes before they blow up in their faces.

Reviewers say: “L.J. Sellers just keeps getting better. In Crimes of Memory, she pits unforgettable characters against a brilliant plot. Put this on your A-list! Then go search out the rest of the series.”—Peg Brantley, bestselling mystery author

J Carson Black’s release is a thriller called The Survivor’s Club. Check it out:

Detective Tess McCrae investigates a grisly crime scene in the ghost town of Credo, Arizona. To an ordinary investigator, the evidence suggests a cartel drug hit. But Tess, with a nearly faultless photographic memory, is far from ordinary, and she sees what others might miss: this is no drug killing. Someone went to gruesome lengths to cover up this crime.

The killer’s trail leads Tess from Tucson to California; from anti-government squatters in the Arizona mountains to the heights of wealthy society, including the rich and powerful DeKoven family, who've dominated Arizona commerce and politics since the 1800s. But as Tess follows the trail of gore and betrayal, perfect and indelible in her memory, she uncovers far more than one man’s murder, and solves much more than one isolated crime.

Reviewers say: “An utterly engrossing thriller. The Survivors Club grips us from the very start and simply doesn't let go. The novel seamlessly achieves that rarity in crime fiction: making our palms sweat while bringing the characters and their stories straight into our hearts. Bravo!" —Jeffery Deaver, New York Times bestselling author

I got an idea

I'm this-close to finishing the latest mystery and, as usual, instead of slamming to the finish line, I'm finding things to distract me. My latest shiny toy involves the idea for a new story. It all started with my favorite movie, The Big Sleep.

I wrote about it on my own blog and several people told me they'd never seen the movie. Please don't tell me you've never seen the movie. It is an essential member of the noir movie club, a movie that every mystery lover must see. Honestly, if you haven't seen this movie, I'm taking away your Mystery Lovers License. If there is such a thing.

First of all, look at this trailer.



I mean, they reference the book, AND the author, before they start mentioning the stars. Okay, so the movie veers a little from the book, but as an author, wouldn't you just die if Denzel Washington or (picture your favorite star) pulled your book off the shelves, showed it to the screen and told everyone in the theater what a fine author you were and how happy he was to star in the movie adaptation?

Yeah, I could point my boots skyward after that, too.

So, go watch the movie, then come back. It's probably on Netflix, or Amazon Prime to watch on your Fire. It's from 1946, so it's probably free. I'll wait...

*humming Jeopardy song*

Now that you're back, let's talk about the plot. It's so convoluted, I barely know where to begin. Phillip Marlowe, a P.I. who is never referred to by his first name by anyone, is hired by a wealthy old man to pay off someone who is blackmailing his youngest daughter, Carmen. Immediately, everyone around Marlowe, including Carmen's older sister Vivian, starts trying to find out if he's being paid to find Sean Regan. Sean is the old man's former bodyguard and has gone missing.




With me so far? Good, because the plot goes a million directions from there. By the time it's all over, there are five murders, six if you count Sean Regan, whose body is never found. Carmen's been sent to rehab and Marlowe ends up with Vivian.

I happen to love this movie, despite the plot holes, because the dialogue is insanely smart and I'm a sucker for Los Angeles in the rain. And, apart from the body count and Carmen's little stint at Betty Ford, it has a happy ending.



I got to thinking about Sean Regan. He was a bodyguard for General Sternwood and used to be a mercenary for the Irish Republican Army. He's already missing when the movie starts, and the implication is that the villain (Eddie Mars) had him murdered and dumped somewhere because he was messing around with Mrs. Mars. (BTW, I'd have loved for Mrs. Mars to have a first name like Venus, but alas, she's Mona. Mona Mars. Meh.)

What if... Sean wasn't dead? What if he was a smart mercenary/bodyguard who evaded Eddie Mars and had to re-invent himself to escape detection?

If I thought I would be the least bit good at historical mysteries, I'd write this story. It's set in the Forties, so I'd have to do actual research. I may bite the bullet and try it eventually. In the meantime, I'd love to open the door to your imagination.

Whatever happened to Sean Regan?

Does a protagonist have to be miserable?

By Sheila Lowe, author and forensic handwriting expert

Everyone alive is flawed in some way or another. None of us gets to be an adult without experiencing a load of crap that we’ve had to deal with. But I’ve noticed an extra helping of flaw and misery for the protagonists of many books I read. From the descriptions on the daily list of free or low cost books from BookBub, I’m struck by how many unhappy ones there are: alcoholics, drug abusers, “nearing 40 and desperately unhappy;” murdered spouse; broken heart; fighting cancer; “one tragedy after another.” And then, of course, there’s the perennially unhappy Kay Scarpetta.

Trust me, I understand the importance of “tension on every page.” I clearly remember a workshop I attended given by big time agent Donald Maas, who told us that to be successful writers, we must make things as bad for our protagonist as they could possibly be. Then make it worse. Then make it even worse. In fact, he spent most of a day repeating that mantra: make it even worse.

That’s a tough assignment if you like your protagonist. Putting him or her in dangerous situations is hard enough, but killing off their friends, making them ill, blowing up their house etc., takes real dedication to the craft. Claudia Rose, the heroine of my Forensic Handwriting mysteries is an ordinary person who, through her work, is thrown into extraordinary circumstances where she is forced to dig deep for courage, fortitude, and the other admirable characteristics that get her through. She’s been through her share of losses and difficulties, and I take it personally (crying real tears) when something awful happens to her.

Alcoholism, drug abuse, and all that other unhappy stuff is an ongoing part of life for many people. And when done well, those challenges can provide an interesting dimension to a character. The key, I think, is to make sure s/he is struggling to overcome those problems while keeping a sense of humor, not taking himself (or herself) so seriously that the reader can’t relate to him. We need to see the character arc—over the book, or through the series. Otherwise, there’s a danger of disliking that character, which could mean putting down the book and never picking it up again—the bane of an author’s existence. And, speaking from my own POV, I’m too old and leisure time is too limited  to spend it with people I don’t like, even in books.

There’s no moral to this post. Just meandering in my mind, wondering whether any of you have had the same thoughts. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. I spent mine a bunch of mine fighting with Word (I’m a dyed-in-the-wool WordPerfect user).

Not a Typical Mystery

The Burning Air by Erin Kelly (Pamela Dorman Books hardcover, 21 February 2013) .

Reviewed by Marlyn Beebe.


Erin Kelly's third novel is an atypical mystery in that it doesn't begin with a murder, the solution of which is investigated throughout the story and solved by the end of the book.  Instead, it explores complex themes like obsession, love, hope, and desperation. 

The story opens with MacBride family matriarch Lydia discovering she has a fatal illness, and deciding not to share this information with her the rest of the clan.

Fast forward to the following autumn.  Lydia's three adult children Sophie, Tara and Felix meet their father Rowan at their weekend home in Devon, where they plan to scatter Lydia's ashes.  Sophie, who had been nine months pregnant with her fourth child when her mother died, is accompanied by her husband Will and their three sons, as well as infant Edie.  Tara brings her son Jake and her fiancé Matt, and for the first time youngest brother Felix brings a girlfriend, a quiet young woman called Kerry.

The family drives into the village one night for a bonfire, and Kerry offers to stay with the baby so that Sophie can join her family.  Returning home early with her youngest son Charlie, who is overwhelmed by the crowds, Sophie finds an empty house.  Sophie is understandably frantic, no less because she's unable to call for her:  cell phones don't work in the area, and the house phone is inexplicably dead. 

The distraught family searches for Edie and her kidnapper, and in attempting to determine why Kerry would have taken the baby, they discover all sorts of secrets their mother has kept from them. 

This absolutely absorbing and somewhat spooky tale  (definitely not horror), should appeal to fans of Debra Ginsberg and Emily Arsenault.   Make sure you set aside a block of time to read this, because once begun, you won't want to put it down.



FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher, who sent me a copy of the book for review purposes.

A Writer Walks Into a Strip Bar. . .

Joining us on Thursdays is Teresa Burrell: author, attorney, and child advocate. We all know her from a previous publisher, crime fiction conferences, or geographical proximity. She's smart, funny, charming, and one of the hardest working authors we know. And her passion is evident in the mysteries she writes. Here's Teresa in her own words:

Do you ever get irritated when you're reading a novel and something strikes you as just plain wrong? It could be a fact, or a scene, or a behavior. I don't know about you, but it throws me right out of the book. While my mind is struggling with what the scene should really be, I lose track of the story line.

I recently read two different books by very good writers and the legal scenarios were incorrect. One was a courtroom scene that wasn't at all like real life. The other, even more painful, was where the legal premise was incorrect. That's just unfair to the reader because the recipient of this information will often walk away thinking what he or she read is "the law." Sure, we're writing fiction, but I believe we have a responsibility to make our facts, our scenes, our characters both realistic and accurate.

This is not to say you have to know everything there is to know about what you write. You do not need to be a lawyer to write legal fiction, a doctor to write medical fiction, or in law enforcement to write a police procedural. But if something is crucial to your story, you do need to have an expert consultant.

I believe this to be true of every part of your novel. For example, my latest manuscript has a scene in a strip bar with a lap dance. It's not meant to be graphic, so I don't need a lot of detail, but I feel like I need to set the scene correctly. Now, I've never had a lap dance but I did go to a male strip bar once for a bachelorette party so I have some knowledge beyond what I've seen on television. I started calling my male friends, the ones I knew had received lap dances, and I've gained a whole lot of insight--much more than I cared to know. Research can be a lot of fun.

As a reader, what happens to you when you come across something in a novel that you know to be incorrect? Does it ruin the story for you? Do you ignore it and go on? Do you think the author has a responsibility to be accurate? Does it keep you from reading books by that author again?

As a writer, you often hear, "Write what you know." This is the reason I write legal suspense and not romance novels. . .

Great Writing....and Stagger Lee

Tom Schreck, author of the Duffy Series

As a semi-professional writer I often get asked about what constitutes great writing.

Hard to say but it's kind of like that Supreme Court judge said about porn, that is; "I know it when I see it." (I'm still trying to get him to send me the links to those specific sites.)

I recently came across a piece of what I think epitomizes super great writing. (not sure if "super great" fits into the great writing category or not.)

It wasn't Shakespeare, Faulkner, Hemingway or Sellers. It was Lloyd Price.

Here it is, his version of the iconic rock and roll song, "Stagger Lee."

And why I think it is great.

The night was clear, and the moon was yellow
And the leaves came tumblin' down. . . 

(Perfect description of a setting in very few words. "The moon was yellow." -Can't you just see that? The moon isn't usually described as yellow--but it is, isn't it?)


I was standin' on the corner
When I heard my bull dog bark.

(He's got a bull dog--not a dog, not a hound dog, which would be the appropriate cliche considering it was the fifties. A bull dog is different and therefore it catches the reader's eye.)
He was barkin' at the two men
Who were gamblin' in the dark.

("Gamblin' in the dark." Isn't that all you really need to know? It sounds seedy and you know what's going on in three words.)
It was Stagger Lee and Billy,
Two men who gambled late.

("gambled late'--again tells you everything you need to know in two words.)

Stagger lee threw a seven,
Billy swore that he threw eight.

(Great craps reference. As a crap player myself I think what happened was Stagger Lee crapped out by throwing a seven but tried to screw Billy by claiming it was an eight. We're left to assume that Stagger had bet on eight.)
"Stagger Lee," said Billy,
"I can't let you go with that.
"You have won all my money,
"And my brand-new Stetson hat."

(Stagger Lee cheats and wins not only all the money but the poor brother's STETSON hat. A damned STETSON! You know that means trouble.)
Stagger Lee went home
And he got his .44.

(Not a gun, not a shotgun, not a pistol...a 44. Much more descriptive word.)

He said, "I'm goin' to the ballroom
"Just to pay that debt I owe."

(Short, tight dialogue. fantastic!)

(bridge)
Go, Stagger Lee

(Here's the verse that the sociologists examine. The background singers are CHEERING Stagger Lee who not only is a cheater but now wants to murder over being accused of cheating. From a writing standpoint it's great because it goes against cliche.)
Stagger Lee went to the ballroom
And he strolled across the ballroom floor.
He said "You did me wrong, Billy."
And he pulled his .44.

"Stagger Lee," said Billy,
"Oh, please don't take my life!
"I've got three hungry children,
"And a very sickly wife."

(More great dialogue tightly written.)

Stagger Lee shot Billy
Oh, he shot that poor boy so hard
That a bullet went through Billy
And broke the bartender's bar.

(Stagger Lee shoots the guy even though he gets begged not to. Man, this is a bad MFer! And how about the bullet going through Billy and smashing the bartender's glass. Hold it--the BARTENDER'S glass? He's not supposed to be drinking--now we know more about how seedy the place really is!)
Go, Stagger Lee, go, Stagger Lee!
Go, Stagger Lee, go, Stagger Lee!

(And the back up singers cheer Stagger on! Great Stuff!)

Rolling Stone writer Greil Marcus wrote that this song inspired the Black Panthers, influenced Sly Stone's swagger and was responsible for every image of a tough, street-smart Black man in every motion picture and literary depiction.

I don't know about all that. I do know that different versions of the song have been recorded by 400 different artists and that it is based on a Christmas Eve murder in St Louis in the 1800's.

i don't really care--I just now that it tells a story in very, very few but descriptive terms and that it ignores cliches and how stories are "supposed to be."

Which to me is the essence of great, great writing.

Go Stagger Lee!

Writing Bullshit

Is this what your outline looks like?

NOT where I write...

by Tom Schreck

There's a lot of bullshit communicated about successfully writing a novel. If you heed much of it you'll get paralyzed and never be able to finish your own work of fiction.

The truth is that writing a book isn't joining the Marines, it isn't Transcendental Meditation nor is it discovering cold fusion. It has more to do with cleaning your basement, building a bird house or creating a garden in your backyard.

In other words it involves some planning, some trial and error and quite a bit of time on task.

It doesn't require any of this crap:

* Large amounts of uninterrupted time in a beautiful oak paneled office.

I write before my day job in between hound bays and getting up every 7 minutes to act as the uniformed doorman for my three four legged VIPs.

* You must have a completely formed idea, outlined neatly with Roman numerals, bullet points and color coded categories.

Actually, you need an idea. Then another idea of where to go. Do that for 300 pages and you get a book.

* You can't start your book until you go on police ride-a-longs, volunteer on the local SWAT team or travel to Rome to interview the custodian at the Vatican for your story background.

This is fiction. You make this shit up. Read an article, go to Wikipedia and then start writing.

* You must write only when the muse comes to visit you.

Good luck with that. It's plain crap.

* You can't finish because you're blocked.

You're not a colon and you don't get blocked. You stop working. If what comes next to you isn't obvious then you have to problem solve, do some trial and error and rewrite.

It's work.

Tom Schreck writes the Duffy Dombrowski Series and the stand alone thriller GETTING DUNN. TKO is the #1 boxing book on Amazon Kindle.

Working Crimes with Detective Jackson

by L.J. Sellers, author or provocative mysteries & thrillers

Rules of Crime, Detective Jackson's 7th novel, released this week. For those who haven't met him yet, here's a post in Jackson's perspective. (Originally published by Dru's Book Musings.)

Actor Hugh Jackman

"Detective Jackson, Eugene Police Department." That's how I introduce myself to witnesses and suspects, so that's why this series is called the Detective Jackson series and not the Wade Jackson series. No one calls me Wade, except my girlfriend Kera, and she doesn't do it often.

I wake up most mornings at 5:30, even on weekends if I’m working the first few days of a homicide, which often go round-the-clock. Most days, I’m home long enough to have breakfast with my daughter, Katie, then drive her to high school. I was a single parent even before I divorced, because my ex-wife is an alcoholic and not someone Katie can depend on.

And I'm a workaholic, so my daughter is rather self-sufficient. That's my greatest struggle every day: How do I be a good father to the person I love most in the world and keep my hometown of Eugene, Oregon safe from violent offenders?

At the department, I check my emails and phone messages like any other public servant, but that after that my day gets interesting. My boss, a big gruff woman named Sergeant Lammers, often assigns me a new case or wants an update on the case I'm working. Those are the easy ones. More typically, I get called out to homicide scenes during a date with Kera or on a weekend spent building a trike with my daughter. Murder has no boundaries or patterns, but I seem to catch the toughest cases at the strangest times.

Whenever I get the call, I drop what I'm doing and get out to the crime scene. I like to arrive before the medical examiner does so I have chance to look at the body and the scene up close. On television, the detective often takes a long look around and announces something like "The intruder came in through the window, grabbed the trophy from the fireplace and conked the victim on the head."

It's never like that for me. I get cases where a young girl is found dead in a dumpster without a mark on her—and no leads or witnesses. Or a whole family has been assaulted and killed and the evidence is too messy to make sense of. In my last homicide case, a young veteran was found dead in his car with his throat slit.

Solving murders is often tedious work. Hours spent looking at phone or bank records and days spent tracking down family members, boyfriends, and co-workers to interview. The case often breaks because the killer, in desperation, commits another crime or makes a fatal mistake.

Actor Viggo Mortensen

Or often, it's one of my task force members who sees the connections that lead us to the guilty party. Or a crime lab technician who discovers a key piece of forensic evidence. We're all part of a team, and we've worked together for years. My detective partners are also my best friends, because they're the only people I really trust. Chasing criminals will do that to you.

The case I'm working now (Rules of Crime) is personal—my ex-wife has been kidnapped, and the FBI is leading the task force. My partner, Detective Lara Evans, is investigating the assault of a young woman who was beaten and dumped at the hospital. Any minute now, we'll compare notes and discover how these crimes are connected. I hope you'll be there for the revelation.

And what do you think? Should Hugh Jackman play my part when I make it to the big screen? Or maybe Viggo Mortensen?

Boxing Scene=Sex Scene

by Tom Schreck

I like what Stephen King has to say about symbolism, foreshadowing and that kind of stuff. In On Writing he says that you shouldn’t go for it in  story telling but if it evolves and you pick it up as you edit it can be a real bonus.
Planting symbolism usually comes out as forced and when it becomes obvious the power of it is sapped.
In my GETTING DUNN I wrote a scene in which a male (Duffy) and female (TJ) box. As I wrote the sparring scene I realized it began to read like something else.
Let me know what you think.
“Let’s start slow, kind of feel each other out,” he said. TJ nodded. Duffy threw a jab toward her face at about half speed and she blocked it. She countered, parrying off his punch and the speed surprised him. He blocked part of it but a part of her glove got a little bit of cheek.
“Whew, you got some speed,” he said.
He threw a double jab, this time taking the speed and power up a notch. His intensity increase told her he respected her skills and the uptick in power was his way of letting her know he respected whom he was in with.
She stepped inside his next jab and through a three-punch uppercut to his body. His abs were firm and she knew the punches didn’t take anything out of him. Still, getting inside him and scoring was a victory in and of itself.  He spun to his left and tapped her with two jabs. He shot them to her face and she could tell he opened his hand to lessen the impact. She deflected most of the jabs, taking just a little leather on her cheek.
“Nice movement,” TJ said.

Working the corner

She moved toward him, hitched her left shoulder to feint a jab and drove a straight right down the middle of his guard. He went for the feint and it fooled him. The right landed harder than TJ expected. She felt his nose against her knuckles through the padding of the glove.
“Oooh sorry. I didn’t mean to–”
“Nice shot, you caught me.” Duffy said offering his glove to tap, the universal, nonverbal boxing language of affirmation. Immediately, TJ felt embarrassed and silly for apologizing. The last thing she wanted was to come out sounding girly.
“I need to work on the ropes. Can you pressure me a bit?” I wasn’t unusual for a fighter to work on strategy during sparring. Working on the ropes required advanced skills.
“Just throw at me,” he said.
TJ let go with combinations focusing on speed. She’d go jab right, jab, jab, right and finish off with a hook. Then she alternated going upstairs and to the body. Her rat-at-tat-tats to the body came lightening quick and when she ended it with a left to the head it caught him flush on the jaw line.
She heard him grunt and it let her know that her hook had something on it. He tightened his guard and lowered his crouch. TJ was breathing hard, really hard, from the work but she was loving every second of it. She mustered all she could and let go with another combination.
Duffy took three punches on his gloves. Her next right came down the middle but he was ready for her. He stepped into the punch, hooked his upper arm around it and trapped it. Then, he turned TJ so that she was the one against the ropes.
The move caught her by surprise and it almost took her breath away. Her face was planted on his chest and she needed to breath deeply to get her wind. Her arms, needing to balance the rest of her, wrapped around his waist, forcing her even closer to him. Duffy leaned his weight into her and her back went in to the ropes. The ropes stretched and bent with the force of the two bodies.
It was some advanced movement and it was clear this guy knew what he was doing. TJ felt his weight, his hard upper body pressed against hers and she knew he had her tied up. It was both an offensive and defensive move at the same time.
She was breathing hard and took the clinch to rest as fighters often do. She let Duffy support her as she leaned back into him. He was warm, almost hot, from the work and so was she. Her breathing didn’t come back as fast as she wanted it to and she realized she was not only winded but wet from the exertion.
After what seemed like a long moment she worked out of the clinch and they danced to the center of the ring. She threw a double jab without much steam and he caught both of them. The buzzer sounded and TJ was grateful for the rest.
Both of them were winded from the exertion.
“Hey, you really got something,” Duffy said.
“So do you,” TJ said with a heavy exhale.
They went at it again for two more rounds and had found that rhythm that fighters who work together for a long time find. They could challenge each other, they could make the other work and they could also slow things down to a comfortable pace and just move for the good of the movement.
TJ hadn’t had anything like this in a long time.

Judging a Book by the Cover

Tom Schreck

I remember it like it was yesterday.

I was at the Baltimore Bouchercon sitting having beers with my buddy and mystery writer extraordinaire, Henry Perez.

"I read 'On The Ropes' and damn, Schreck, you can write," Henry said.

"Wow, thanks, Henry," I said.

"Yeah that was some dark shit."

"Dark? People usually tell me it's funny," I said. I hadn't heard "dark" before.

"A coerced mother-daughter internet sex ring isn't dark?" Henry said and took a sip off his Sam Adams.

I guess he had a point. Then he said something shocking.

"You gotta lose the dog on the cover, though. That's going to kill you."

"What? I love the hound." I thought everyone did.

"Yeah, he's great, Schreck, but you put a dog on the cover and everyone thinks you're a cozy writer. Let me tell you, you ain't a cozy writer." Henry took a self-congratulatory pull off his draft.

Fast forward six years and Thomas & Mercer releases the fourth in my series, "The Vegas Knockout." My editor told me when he signed me that we were losing the hound. I was bummed.

For a little while.

The book was released at the end of April.  On July 1 it was the number one rated hard-boiled mystery on Amazon.

The cover is a close up of a fighter getting punched in the face and spitting out his mouth guard.

Well, I got my rights back to my back list and in a joint effort with my literary agency, Irene Goodman, we're re-releasing the books with new gritty covers. In the first week "On the Ropes" with no advertising or buildup made it to the top 50 of the mystery sports genre six years after its original
release.

What do you think about covers? Which of my covers do you prefer and why? Even if you like the doggy one which one would you be more apt to buy?

Identity Issues Launches!

by guest blogger and mystery author Claudia Whitsitt

Some authors compare the release of their book to the birth of a baby, and while I see the similarities, this book for me, is much more like a NASA launch.

Whenever I envision a launch, I see fire shooting out from a rocket pad, hear the missile’s engines roaring and watch the building steam as mission control shouts, “And we’re off!” The years of labor, countless calculations, hours revisiting and refining the design, polishing, double-checking, sleepless nights, worry, angst…it’s finally over.

Of course, there’s that last second clutch of the heart. Will the rocket fly? Make it to the heavens without crashing and burning? But, look! The rocket’s boosted now, and it’s soaring. Deep breath. Collective sigh. We have liftoff!

In my particular case, there have been plenty of hiccups along the way. Completing round after round of edits. Hiring a professional editor. Finding a publisher. The rewrite of the last half of the novel. Delays due to MANY unforeseen circumstances. Yes, there were days when I thought this book would never see another reader’s eyes but those of my families and friends.

So, today is cause for huge celebration.

Writing IDENTITY ISSUES marked the start of my reinvention. In 2006, after teaching for thirty years, I decided to write a book. The idea came to me as the result of true events. My husband’s stolen passport led to all kinds of real-life intrigue (more about that in next week’s blog), and the thought of creating my own ending to questions left unanswered nibbled at me until I finally sat down at the computer and wrote the story. Plus, my cohorts at school egged me on. They couldn’t wait to see “The Don Whitsitt Story” in print!

As I neared completion of the book, I attended the Southern California Writers Conference. What the heck did I know about writing a book? What on earth would I do once I finished the manuscript? I had no idea. Thankfully, I met my fairy godmother, Jean Jenkins, at that conference, and she dished out the finest compliment I could have imagined. She told me, “I’d turn the page!” That, for me, meant that someone else might enjoy my story as well. So, I continued writing.

As many of you know, the road to publication is long and arduous. Enough so that this never defeated Special Educator felt ready to give up at times. Writing is my passion after all, not the querying, platform building, marketing and promotion. (I’m still honing those distasteful skills!)

Here, six years later after I first sat down at my computer and began tapping out one letter after another, I present to you the first in The Samantha Series…IDENTITY ISSUES!

For more information about Claudia or her novels, check out her website.