AUTHOR DIANNE SCOTT SETS A MYSTERY SERIES IN THE PSYCHEDELIC 60s

Photo Printed with permission, Courtesy of the Toronto Star Photograph Archives,
Photographer Harold Whyte.

Canadian Dianne Scott lives a short ferry ride from Toronto Island, which is the setting of her award-winning Christine Lane Mystery series. When Dianne is not writing, she is walking Toronto’s neighborhoods, coffee klatching with friends, and cuddling her Bichon Poodle. Learn more about Christine and her books at https://diannescottauthor.com/

Setting a Mystery in the Psychedelic 60s

The setting of a novel is an important choice by an author. Geographical location and time period can inspire plot, characterization and themes. And the setting of Yorkville, Canada does not disappoint as a locale of a mystery book.

 

In the 1950s, the Yorkville area of Toronto was populated by coffee shops and local artists. Young people gravitated to the neighborhood because of its cheap rent and creative sensibilities. Local art hung on café walls and folk and jazz singers would play for their food. Musicians like Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell sang in the music venues that dotted the area.

 

Within a decade, Yorkville had become a mecca for hippies and was crowned the “Haight-Ashbury” of Canada. Thousands of youths converged on its streets to drink coffee, listen to music, smoke drugs, hook up, protest war, and be seen.

 

Clearly, 1960s Yorkville was a fascinating place. But why did I set the third book in my Christine Lane Mystery series there?

 

I blame it on my dad. My father was a Toronto Police officer and had patrolled Yorkville in its hippie heyday. He told me about an undercover operation he had led to catch a persistent purse thief. (Not only did Yorkville have the grooviest music around, but it also had a street of high-end boutiques for Toronto’s carriage crowd to dine and shop.)

 

My father requested a policewoman for the sting. (Note, they were called policewomen in the 1960s, not police constables.) She came dressed to the nines and was asked to walk up and down Cumberland Ave as bait to the purse snatcher. My dad would move in for the arrest when the thief appeared. Unfortunately, the policewoman attracted the attention of storekeepers and interested suitors, so the purse snatcher didn’t approach. 

 

On day two of the sting, another policewoman arrived, tall and athletic, and dressed in simple, plain clothes. After an hour walking Cumberland Ave, a man dashed by and grabbed her purse. The policewoman held tightly onto the purse strap, pulled a brick from her purse and knocked the thief senseless.

 

When I heard that story, I thought, Aha! That’s my main character! Christine Lane would bring a brick to a purse snatcher operation and take control of the situation. My father’s story sparked the idea of setting a Christine Lane Mystery in Yorkville.

 

Yorkville is a rich setting for a mystery. By the end of the 1960s, thugs and motorcycle gangs had overrun the streets. Young people were overdosing on drugs that were toxic. Violence, sexual assault, and hard drug use were on the rise. Politicians were fed up with the simmering, crime-stricken area. It was a perfect place for my protagonist Christine Lane and her officer friends to go on an undercover mission to find a missing teen and the source of the deadly drugs.

 

Another benefit of this groovy Yorkville setting was that it forced my straight-laced protagonist to loosen up. As an undercover youth volunteer, Christine Lane had to be relatable, sociable and sometimes flirty as she chatted with the local youth.

 

The last advantage of the Yorkville setting is that I could easily incorporate themes such as social justice, friendship and community that are important to my series. 

 

So when a book’s setting is rife with crime, allows opportunity for character development, and easily integrates important themes, then it becomes a mystery writer’s go-to locale. Unfortunately, as Joni Mitchell sang, they paved over Yorkville’s paradise of cafes and music venues and put up parking lots, boutiques and high-end art galleries. The groovy Yorkville setting of the 1960s is no more, except in the pages of books.

 

Lost and Found

A Christine Lane Mystery, Book 3

 

A drug-ridden Village. A missing daughter. An undercover cop way over her head.

 

Policewoman Christine Lane was accustomed to the easygoing pace of Toronto Island patrol. The lake view was gorgeous, the locals friendly and the crime nominal. Then Lane and her officer friends are handed a risky undercover assignment: stamp out the illegal drug trade poisoning the hippie neighborhood of Yorkville Village in downtown Toronto.

 

Not only is Christine inexperienced in dealing with gangs, bikers and drug dealers, but she’s assigned a secret mission to find a missing Village teen. Immersed in subterfuge, Christine desperately searches for the girl while trying to ascertain the heroin pipeline. Can she rescue the teen and expose the drug kingpin before her cover is blown?

 

Buy Links

paperback

ebook

AUTHOR TERESA INGE ON THE JOY OF SHORT STORY WRITING

Teresa Inge is an author in more than a dozen anthologies and novellas including Virginia is for Mysteries, Mutt Mysteries, Coastal Crimes, and Promophobia, an Agatha award-winning collection. When not writing, Teresa can be found showing her 1955 Torch Red, Ford Thunderbird at car shows. Learn more about her and her short stories and novellas at her website.

Short Story Anthologies  

I love reading and writing short crime fiction in the anthology format. Especially cozy mysteries that have appealing characters, a small-town setting, and the violence is set off stage. Plus, the mystery is always solved at the end of the story.

 

Mystery anthologies include several different authors, which means different stories, viewpoints, and writing styles. Most have a theme for authors to base their story around, and each story exposes readers to various contributors they might not otherwise have read. 

 

In short stories, every word, sentence, and paragraph is important to move the plot forward due to the shorter word counts in anthologies. This means, readers get a fast-paced and well-developed story they can’t put down.

 

I was first introduced to short stories as a teenager when I read “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. The story features a murderer who tries to persuade his readers of his mental stability while telling the tale of a brutish act. Needless to say, I was hooked on reading short stories but realized I preferred no guts or gore.

 

As a short story writer, I am published in fifteen anthologies and novellas. I coordinate many anthologies and create the book title and theme. I also get to work with multiple authors and mentor new writers. The process is rewarding in the development and editing stage of each short story and the anthology publication.

 

In my latest anthology, First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder, the book has nineteen juicy tales of revenge, betrayal, bad breakups, and a few I dos and some I don’ts. My story “Maid of Murder,” features wine shop owner Lainey Gentry who discovers a dead body in her wine room and tries to clear her name after being accused of murdering a drunken bridesmaid at a bridal party wine tasting. The theme for the book takes ruthless relationships to an all-new level, which makes excellent reading of short stories.

 

5 benefits of buying and reading short stories:

1. A certainty you’ll read the entire piece. 

2. A pleasure of finishing a story.

3. An incentive to read the next story in the anthology.

4. A convenient way to try new genres and authors.

5. A great read between novels.

First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder

Nineteen juicy tales of revenge, betrayal, bad breakups, and a few I dos and some I don’ts by Heather Weidner, Debra H. Goldstein, Sandra Murphy, Kristin Kisska, Eleanor Cawood Jones, Allie Marie, Ellen Butler, Maggie King, Mary Dutta, and Teresa Inge

 

Each short story takes ruthless relationships to an all-new level in all kinds of places like destination weddings, riverboat cruises, wineries, bachelorette parties, creepy stalkers, cheating spouses, and sneaky friends trying for their version of happily ever after. So, settle in for some love stories with a twist of revenge, infidelity, and murder. 

Buy Links

paperback

ebook

AN INTERVIEW WITH ROMANCE, WOMEN'S FICTION AND SUSPENSE AUTHOR MELISSA R. COLLINGS

Today we sit down for a chat with romance, women’s fiction, and suspense author Melissa R. Collings. Learn more about her and her book at her website.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels? 

I’m originally a surgical Physician Associate (medical provider). I worked 50-60 hours per week doing spine surgery, rounding on hospital patients, and seeing patients in the clinic. I enjoyed my job, but when my husband and I were expecting our first child, I decided to take a long hiatus from medical work and stay home to raise our daughter. I’d worked since I was very young, so this was a steep adjustment for me. I needed something for myself, so I turned to a psychological suspense novel I’d started before college. 

 

It took me months to admit to anyone that I was working on a novel. Then, I gave my first book to my husband and asked him to be honest. I needed to know if I could do this. He ripped my book to shreds (figuratively), and I wanted to let the whole thing go, but then he said, “There’s something here. You just need to fix it. And don’t you dare stop writing.” 

 

To this day, he’s my biggest supporter, and it was because of his honesty, followed by his solid encouragement that I went back to my fictional worlds. And as I edited and edited and edited, I got better. I started to understand the power of words, and I was positively thrilled at the idea of evoking emotion in my readers. I was in love. 

 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

I wrote off and on for years and finished my first book in 2017, my second in 2019, and The False Flat in 2021. It sold last year and debuted this month. 

 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author? 

Traditionally published. 

 

Where do you write? 

My favorite writing spot is at my desk. My chair is cozy, equipped with a heating pad against my back (yes, even in the summer), a steaming cup of hot tea (lavender or jasmine) or coffee (cinnamon blueberry crumble, black) or piping hot lemon water. However, I’ve written thousands of words at coffee shops as well. 

 

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind? 

Silence is golden for me. Occasionally I’ll play instrumental music or enjoy the background clatter of a coffee shop. I usually write to the melody of birdsong out my office window or the daily sounds of my family moving about the house.

 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

I love drawing from real life. I think it makes writing richer. And I draw from many people around me, and of course, myself. I never make a character “me,” but I do draw from my life experiences. For instance, in The False Flat, my main character is biracial, like me, and I gave her ALL my hair struggles as well as some of my unfavorable childhood experiences. 

 

My sister also passed away in 2018, and her death absolutely shapes my writing. 

 

And then there are the fun little things that I cannot resist sneaking in. 

 

 

Describe your process for naming your character?

This is SO hard for me. I always want something unique. I mentally collect names I like as I meet people. But I also search names by meaning. I love double meaning, hidden meaning, and metaphors. Sometimes the characters name themselves, popping into my head out of nowhere. And other times, I agonize until one seems right. But the characters need names for me to really get to know them.

 

Real settings or fictional towns?

Real, at least so far.

 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

Penelope Auberge from The False Flat has all kinds of quirks. She has social anxiety, and uses Cap’n Crunch, bicycle riding, and numbers as her coping mechanisms. As a financial planner, she’s soothed by numbers, so when she’s stressed, she envisions people as literal numbers so they’re less intimidating. That was so fun to write.

 

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

I don’t know if this is a quirk, but it gets me into trouble…my imagination is wild and I’m a perfectionist, and if I think it, I tend to feel compelled to do it. And I usually go overboard and overcommit myself, but I can’t stop until I feel like it’s perfect.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

It’s a toss-up between Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.

 

Jane Eyre has personal significance for me. I admire the Bronte sisters as well as Jane Austen, and I think it would be so fun to have written this because it’s something I really enjoyed when I was younger. 

 

But as a writer, I adore the idea of writing something impactful and lasting. It’s not about the fame and notoriety, but it’s about significance. There’s something deeply appealing to me to be able to write something that sticks with people, that charms or helps them in some way. 

 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

I wish I hadn’t worried so much about what other people thought of me when I was younger. When I was growing up, I missed out on opportunities and experiences because I didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself. Other people matter, but they also don’t. Living life to the fullest, regardless of what I might seem to others, is so freeing. The small things I sweated were wastes, and I wish I could go back and not let things get to me like they did. 

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

When people don’t take the time to see someone else’s perspective. 

 

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

My computer (with infinite battery life), an infinite supply of hot tea, and my family. 

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

I’ve had many jobs, and I’ve hated aspects of all of them. However, each one has given me something or taught me something about the world or myself. But if I’m pressed, I’d say when I worked at Toys R Us when I was very young. The environment was stressful and hectic.

 

Who’s your all-time favorite literary character (any genre)? Why?

Jesus. I haven’t read about a person’s life that has affected me more than Jesus.   

 

Ocean or mountains?

I cannot commit to only one of these. I have commitment issues. However, there is no better place to be than by the ocean with the soft sand under my feet and the crashing waves taking command of my thoughts, where the wind is powerful and the world goes on forever while simultaneously being enclosed within a dome. Until I tire of it and crave the majesty within the tall peaks and the security of layered rock or desire to breathe in the sweet notes wafting off the mountain greenery or stand tall looking over a world that holds infinite treasures.  

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

City, no question. I love being five minutes from a grocery store because my “meal plans” are always incomplete.

 

What’s on the horizon for you?

I’m in a period of limbo, and I’m trying hard to be okay with that. I’m waiting to see how my first book does, waiting to see if I’ll get another book published, waiting to start a new medical job. 

 

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

Links to my social media accounts and a Book Club Kit can be found on my website. Sign up for my newsletterto receive Just Desserts, a free novelette about betrayal, doubt, and sheet cake. 

 

The False Flat

In this uplifting story about friendship, love, and growth, one woman must untangle herself from a past that’s holding her back in order to move forward into the life that will set her free.

 

Penelope Auberge is at her breaking point. With an overbearing mother, a married boyfriend, and a boss who gives Pen’s high-profile finance clients to male colleagues, it feels like nothing she’s accomplished in her thirty-two years belongs to her.

 

Determined to build a life entirely her own, Pen moves from Minnesota to Tennessee to open a solo financial business. There, she meets siblings Deanna and Grant, who attempt to coax Pen out of her socially anxious shell. Hesitant to open up so she doesn’t get hurt (again), Pen is slow to develop a friendship with Deanna, and she’s determined to ignore her feelings for Grant, which is difficult given she’s joined his cycling group and a clear something begins blossoming between them.

 

Pen’s path in Nashville appears to be smoothing out, but she soon learns that packing up her past isn’t quite that easy. If she wants to start fresh, she’ll have to decide what she really wants—even if that means riding away from her old life for good.

 

Buy Links

ebook

paperback

audiobook

AUTHOR VALERIE TAYLOR ON JOURNEYING FROM ROMANCE TO MYSTERY IN BOTH GENRE AND SETTING

Award-winning romantic comedy author Valerie Taylor recently debuted A Whale of a Murder, the first book in her new Venus Bixby cozy mystery series. When not writing or reading, she enjoys practicing tai chi and being an expert sports spectator. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

Journey vs. Destination

Ralph Waldo Emerson has been credited with saying, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” That may be true in life. But what about in a novel? What’s more important? The plot (the journey) or the setting (the destination)? Clearly, the answer resides in the opinion of each reader.

 

However, consider this: Could a story, no matter how intriguing the characters or captivating the plot, exist without a setting that readers can inhabit as they’re turning pages? How many books have you been halfway through and then stopped to ask, “Where is this taking place?” I’d bet few to none.

 

Choosing where to set my debut romantic comedy, What’s Not Said, which I wrote in 2018, was relatively easy. I’d lived in and loved Boston and had vacationed in Venice in 2016. So, too, was the process of selecting the settings for the subsequent books in the trilogy: What’s Not True and What’s Not Lost. With Boston as home base in each, my vacations to Paris and Greece provided ample fodder for featuring those destinations.

 

Little did I know, however, when I decided to write a cozy mystery, my inspiration would derive from a day trip to the New Bedford Whaling Museum in the summer of 2016 after I retired.

 

I’d found writing about a destination I knew well, like Boston, was as delightful as eating a piece of cream pie. Even scenes in Venice, Paris, and Greece evolved effortlessly.

 

Such was not the case when I decided to switch genres from romantic comedy to cozy mystery. That’s because cozies have their own distinct rules and require certain elements. Elements such as who was the victim and what was the cause of death and must include a large cast of characters: the murderer, suspects, a sleuth.

 

Most of all, though, unlike the real-life locales in my romantic comedy series, my cozy mystery needed to be set in an enchanting fictional town. Think Cabot Cove in the Murder, She Wrote television series.

 

Bingo! I recalled visiting New Bedford, MA, and decided to create my fictional town in its image. Naming it Chatham Crossing was a fun exercise. Those familiar with Cape Cod know the popular town of Chatham. And since my town would be located, like New Bedford, between Providence, Rhode Island, and the Cape, the word Crossing seemed a logical fit.

 

But that was only the start. I had to build Chatham Crossing.

 

For assistance, I logged into one of my favorite author resources: OneStopForWriters.com, which is chock full of reference materials and tools. I headed straight for the tab labeled “Worldbuilding Surveys.” While worldbuilding is often associated with sci-fi or fantasy (think Game of Thrones), I needed to build a cozy village like no other. This meant that before even starting to plot the journey I’d take readers on, I had to know the town’s physical characteristics, the rules the residents live by, and what their cultural norms were. Through an extensive question and answer roadmap, I was not only able to conceive the structural aspects of the town, but also fresh plot ideas emerged. 

 

Then, I downloaded a map of New Bedford and went to work re-naming streets, parks, businesses, and so on, ending up with a working map of Chatham Crossing.

 

I rounded out this research with frequent visits to the New Bedford Whaling Museum website and attended online evening discussions about the history of the whaling and shipping industries. 

 

Once I had a view of Chatham Crossing in focus, I jumped into writing the narrative. But there were more aspects to consider to bring the village alive. Some writing coaches advise that each page should include a reference to the five senses: see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. I confess. I don’t do that religiously. Although I do have a Post-it note on my monitor as a reminder.

 

If I had to honestly assess my journey as an author, I’d have to admit along the way I felt setting was my Achilles heel. Apparently, through diligence, practice, and four books under my belt, I’ve improved. Reviewers often remark that they enjoy the description of the historic whaling village of Chatham Crossing, as well as the journey the story takes them in A Whale of a Murder.

A Whale of a Murder

A Venus Bixby Mystery, Book 1

Retro-music store owner Venus Bixby will do anything to be named to Chatham Crossing's prestigious Town Committee. But when she stumbles over a body in the garden where her fiftieth birthday party is scheduled to be held, becoming both a suspect and an amateur sleuth is not what Venus had in mind!

Buy Links

paperback

ebook

A NORTH SEA WRITING CRUISE WITH COZY MYSTERY AUTHOR KATHRYN CRABTREE

Photo from Pixabay

Growing up, Kathryn Crabtree to write and to be Nancy Drew. Her parents suggested a more conventional career, so she became a nurse.  Inspired by Nancy Drew, she infuses her writing with a strong sense of justice while celebrating women of a certain age. To learn more about Kathryn and her books, visit her at her website.

Lessons at Sea

Seven days afloat crossing the North Seas, forty hours of writing craft classes, thirty newly acquainted writers and partners, four instructors, twenty-five anxiously anticipated classes, and seven group dinners add up to an unforgettable experience at the QM2 writers’ retreat.

 

When not in class, we explored the multiple decks and various venues for entertainment. A casino, art gallery, gift shops, library, theatre, lecture hall, and multiple comfortable sitting areas were available for conversations with other guests while sharing cocktails, coffee, or snacks.

 

Classes began at 9 am with Dinty Moore, then Allison K. Williams, followed by break-out sessions and lunch. One-on-one meetings were booked throughout the instructors’ free time. Jane Friedman and Amy Goldmacher’s classes ended in time to attend daily high tea.

  

An essayist and university faculty member, Moore writes fiction and nonfiction books and has authored writing craft and textbooks. He edits the online literary magazine, Brevity, which features creative nonfiction essays. His focus is on identifying what it is that makes a story work on the page. He said he finds inspiration and joy in interacting with writers and working on stories that are very important to them. His hope students would recognize that although writing is hard work, it doesn’t have to be painful. “Work smart, study the craft, and good things will happen. Literacy writing is an act of discovery.” He also said, “Keeping surprise alive in the writing process, keeps writing fresh.”

 

Friedman, the author of The Business of Being a Writer has spent twenty-five years in the publishing industry. She is active on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund and is a contributor to articles in Writer’s Digest. Her theme for the ship class was, “Marketing Before and After the Book Launch”, where she demonstrated that the business of writing involves the creative process and should be a positive experience. Improving newsletters and author websites was the focus of her course and stated, “Improved results are an easy measure of progress.” 

 

Jane’s newsletters address issues relative to her readers’ interests and provide the basis for new classes. She is a supporter of real-time publishing online to increase reader engagement but enjoys both online and in-person teaching. Outlining the class goals she added, “By the end of my presentations, I hope the writers see the importance of their marketing and promotion progress, in an organic and no-stress manner before their book is finished.”

 

An editor and expert in all things writing, Williams is the author of Seven Drafts: Self-edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book. The theme of the QM2 writers’ retreat, “Rebirth Your Book Voyage” focused on the value of spending time with other writers. One of William’s super-powers is critiquing student’s samples during her classes. “I share pages on the screen and read aloud, editing as I go. It’s a huge, immediate education for both the writer and the other writers watching.”

 

William’s lectures were a rapid succession of writing suggestions and vocal bullet points. Her slides were colorful, bright, and engaging. When critiquing students' work, she read aloud and stopped, mimicking an editor, when she lost interest in the manuscript. An explanation of the stoppage and hints on how to re-engage the reader were then provided. She stated, “It is also a continuing learning experience for me too.”  Adding, “As an editor, my clients have taught me so much.”

 

Amy Goldmacher is an anthropologist, writer, and certified nonfiction book coach. She has had editing, marketing, and sales experience giving her a varied perspective on the publishing process. She states, “As a coach, my job is to help the aspiring author accomplish their goals by reflecting what I hear them say or see them write, asking clarifying questions, and raising issues for them to consider.” She feels it is important for writers to be confident when they talk about their books to other professionals and not be intimidated. As a coach, she helps build that confidence.

 

As a novice cozy mystery writer, I had spent several years in multiple craft webinars with Friedman and Williams. Having spent so much time with Allison‘s online presence, when we met in person I was shocked at first that she didn’t recognize me. Realizing she hadn’t been staring at my face throughout classes, I resisted the urge to hug her as if she were a dear friend. 

 

The instructors’ accessibility was one of many highlights. The ship had an aura of old-world elegance, and the formal high tea and ballroom dancers added a touch of romance. But it was the writers whose earnest presence defined the magic of the voyage. Sharing emails, recommendations, and support for the work presented was an added benefit. Striving together to improve our craft was reaffirming. 

 

The Mystery of the Smoldering Mattress 

A Nancy Drouillard Mystery

 

Nancy Douillard, a widowed, retired judge returns to her 55+ community after a frustrating meeting at a local law firm. Nancy is angry at being patronized as if her "use-by date" had expired when offering her services. She hoped being of service again would give more of a purpose to her life. 

 

Joining the Happy Hour crowd on the deck of the Cup and Vine to meet with her childhood friend, Bess, she finds an ambulance removing the body of her friend, Hilda. The death at-home case detective, Nancy's ex-son-in-law, Harry, concludes Hilda died of smoke inhalation when her mattress caught fire while smoking in bed.

 

Nancy is skeptical of Harry's assumption. She suspects foul play; she knows Hilda never smoked in her apartment. Could someone want Hilda dead? Would Hilda's daughter know something about her death? Was the missing money from Hilda's account a motive? Could the attractive flirtatious man who warned Nancy she could be the next victim be responsible for Hilda's death? Would finding the answers to these questions and justice for Hilda restore Nancy's sense of purpose?

 

Nancy decides to do a little investigating herself. She wondered, "What would a 65-year-old Nancy Drew do?" After all, she was named after the girl detective. Armed with a lifetime of reading Nancy Drew mysteries and her own ingenuity and deductive reasoning, intrepid Nancy Drouillard became determined to solve this mystery. Will she successfully find the guilty party, or could she be the next victim?

 

Buy Links

paperback

ebook