BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR LIBBY HELLMANN

Award-winning author Libby Fischer Hellmann left a career in broadcast news in Washington, DC and moved to Chicago thirty-five years ago, where she, naturally, began to write gritty crime fiction. Fourteen novels and twenty-five short stories later, she claims they’ll take her out of the Windy City feet first. Learn more about Libby and her books at her website. 

Novels or Novellas? When Short is the New Long

I don't follow trends. In fact, I seem to catch on just at the moment the tide turns and starts fading. The same goes for my writing. I envy writers who can generate thick, 500 page thrillers. I can't. Happily, it looks like there's an emerging trend for short stories and novellas.

I love dreaming up plots and defining characters, figuring out who does what to whom and why. But the actual writing part has always intimidated me. It's still the hardest thing I’ve ever done, even after all these years. In fact, if I could write stories like a one-panel cartoon, I would.

The same goes for the subject of World War II. I love reading about WW2, and a vast amount has been written. Novels like Nightingale, All The Light We Cannot See, The Book Thief, Sarah’s Key, the Bernie Gunther and Alan Furst crime novels, Unbroken, and The Winds of War are awesome in their power and beauty. What on earth could I possibly add? 

On the other hand it's hard to resist. World War II was the last time when the distinction between good and evil was so clearly defined, with absolutely no gray areas. And that paradigm allows authors to create complex, conflicted characters as well as explore themes of heroism, cowardice, and sacrifice.

In the end it was another World War II junkie and prolific reader who inspired me to give it a go. The very first short story I ever wrote was set in 1930s Lawndale (in Chicago) a few years before the war began. After reading it, my reader friend nudged me to try another story. I was on an espionage kick and was researching WW2 espionage techniques. So I wondered what would happen if a German refugee was forced to spy on the early years of the Manhattan Project in Chicago. But a novel? No way. Far too scary.

I wrote a novella instead: The Incidental Spy, set between 1935 and 1942, about a German refugee who is forced to spy on the early years of the Manhattan Project at the U. of Chicago. I felt it turned out rather well, so I contemplated writing a companion novella. A visit to Bletchley Park in the UK had made an impression on me, but I couldn’t quite imagine a story that was so compelling I just had to write about it. Then I was in exercise class (See? there are benefits to working out) when, out of the blue, someone mentioned an old German POW camp a mile away.

The what? Where?

That’s when it happened – that tingle you get when you suddenly know you've found the right subject. Research revealed almost half a million German and Italian POWs were incarcerated in the US between 1943 and 1945. There were conflicts between the soldiers, but the US Army treated the POWs so well that many didn’t want to leave at the war’s end. Ultimately the companion novella, POW, more or less wrote itself. I packaged the two novellas together, added the short story I mentioned, and there it was.

Writing shorter eliminates a lot of pressure, at least for me. Given my insecurities about doing the era justice—indeed, about writing in general, it's a comfort to know I don’t have to write seventy thousand words. I can, as Elmore Leonard said, “leave out the part that readers tend to skip,” stripping things down to the essential elements of plot, character, dialogue, and narrative. It has been an eye-opener, and I'm growing fonder of the novella format every day.

As a reader, what's your opinion? Can two or three related novellas be as good as a single, thick novel?

War Spies and Bobby Sox

As World War II rages across Europe and the Pacific, its impact ripples through communities in the heartland of America. A farm girl is locked in a dangerous love triangle with two Germans soldiers held in an Illinois POW camp ... Another German, a war refugee, is forced to risk her life spying on the developing Manhattan Project in Chicago ... And espionage surrounds the disappearance of an actress from the thriving Jewish community of Chicago’s Lawndale. In this trio of tales, acclaimed thriller author Libby Fischer Hellmann beautifully depicts the tumultuous effect of war on the home front and illustrates how the action, terror, and tragedy of World War II was not confined to the front lines. 

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#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--#SCRAPBOOKING WITH AUTHOR GEOFFREY MEHL'S MANDY OWENS

Geoffrey Mehl is a former journalist, graphic designer, editor, and marketing and public relations executive. An environmental advocate and avid gardener, he is also the author of three best-selling landscaping books. Today Mandy Owens, the star of one of his novels joins us to talk about the challenges of scrapbooking when you’re a reporter working undercover with a spy. Learn more about Geoffrey (and Mandy) and his books at his website. 

The Problem with Souvenirs

As we made our way to our diner booth, I winced whenever someone asked if I’d brought souvenirs or mementos. I’m sure Tommy was pretending to ignore it, but that placid expression gave him away.

When seated, I put the envelope on the table. No reaction. Fiddled with it. Nope. Again. Nothing. He was good.

“Want to know what’s in it?”

“In what?” he asked while Frannie poured coffee.

“The envelope.”

“That one? No.”

He was getting under my skin and into my head. “Why not?”

Tommy sipped coffee. “Not my envelope.”

I slumped. “So you’re going to pretend you don’t care, just to prod me into telling you it’s a collection of mementos and souvenirs.”

Oops. Thankfully, he didn’t gloat. “The scrapbooking thing, at Iverson’s. Lot of talk about that.”

Which was true. Two weeks ago, construction work along Railroad Avenue, two blocks south of the Puffin Diner, turned up a metal box containing a link to the past of Jacks Ford: a scrapbook from 1887 with photos, maps, letters, memorabilia. What made it precious was that in 1888, the locomotive of a logging railroad that ran down the center of the street exploded. The resulting fire burned the entire town to the ground. The bankrupt logging company vanished.

Among the images in the miraculously saved box was one of the infamous locomotive.

Muriel Iverson, who owns Iverson’s Arts and Crafts, ensured the scrapbook got to eager hands of the Jacks Ford Historical Society and everyone in town came to see it. A clever businesswoman, Muriel fanned scrapbooking buzz and organized a class.

Tommy and 98 percent of the men in town were indifferent. “So, you’re joining the class?”

Waffle, egg and bacon platters arrived. “Yes. You said yourself that we’re supposed to blend in, be a nice, normal, ordinary couple. While you’re at Ferguson’s Hardware ogling all the noisy toys with starter cords, I’ll do my part as a good citizen.”

He drowned a waffle in syrup. “Shrewd. You brought stuff from when you were a kid?”

“Gosh, no. Muriel specified recent. I’ve got things from some of our adventures.”

A slice of bacon went into his mouth like paper into a shredder. I ignored ice forming on my eggs and reached into the envelope just as he cocked an eyebrow to accompany a “such-as.”

“Here’s those forged credentials from Karl Felchin that we used in that thing with the Federal Reserve. And a scrap from that dress ruined by rain in Argentina. This was fun — the casino chips with the transmitters.”

“The Las Vegas job?”

“No, the cruise ship off the Greek coast.”

“Of course.”

“Here’s one of those cute little tranquilizer darts you and Sergei used to attack the gunrunners in Kenya...”

He wordlessly ate.

I studied the items next to my breakfast. “This isn’t going to work, is it?”

A faint smile suggested the concept had flaws. “If you’d like, we could call Lucy and have her rush us some assorted mementos. Snapshots, theater ticket stubs, some foreign currency, a couple of travel brochures. Probably only take a half hour or so.”

I carved off a hunk of waffle to crush the egg yolk into an oozing mass of disappointment. “I feel like I’m walking into one of those big box stores. Hi, I’m scrapbooking today and I need ten dollars worth of assorted souvenirs to prove I have a life.”

He chuckled in a patient way. “Or you go with what you have, probably raise some eyebrows. Sorry I can’t add to your collection.”

The bacon still had crunch to it, and the blend of syrup and egg yolk on the waffle was palatable. “Back in your espionage days — before you were Robin Hood — you never kept mementos? All the stuff at the cabin is just window dressing?”

Tommy gestured to Frannie for coffee. “No, I didn’t, and yes, it is.”

Frannie arrived with the pot. “Going to Muriel’s class, are you?”

My smile must have been weak. “Not entirely sure.”

Like us, Frannie has a past and was always understanding. She said, “I’ve got some assorted junk if you need materials.”

I slipped my collection into the envelope. “That would be sweet, thank you.”

Frannie promised to return soon. I drained two packets of creamer into the coffee and confronted Tommy’s mischievous grin. “No souvenirs? Ever?”

“No. We never called them souvenirs. We called them evidence.”

Nine Lives

When reporter Mandy Owens witnesses the bizarre murder of a pathetic conspiracy freak, she’s snared in a deadly conspiracy to plug the leak of an incredibly dangerous government document. But the powerful forces in the dark world of finance have tangled with the wrong person. She’s got connections. Reunited with spy-turned-adventurer Tommy Kane and a shadow world of talented misfits, the trail leads through a string of murders to a group of financiers and government officials. But there’s a problem: the mysterious leaked file is a ticking bomb that could destroy the international banking system within minutes and must be defused with a billion-dollar wager, all in.

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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR PAULA ALTENBURG

A former manager in the aerospace industry, multi-published author Paula Altenburg currently writes short contemporary romance. Book 4 of her Spy Games series is coming soon, with more to follow. Paula lives in rural Nova Scotia, Canada, with her husband and two sons. Learn more about her and her books at her website.

I write contemporary romance and fantasy. I’ve published more than fifteen books now, including what I’ve co-authored under a pseudonym. My latest contemporary romance series is about gentlemen spies. I wanted to write about something I know. The Spy Games series leverages off the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. CSIS is a little like the CIA and MI5’s quiet brother, which is perfect.  

No, I’m not a spy. A gentleman either, if we want to be nitpicky.

But before I began writing full time, I did work for a Canadian aerospace and defense company. That means I worked closely with the military, both active and retired. I try to inject a high level of verisimilitude into my work because I have those resources to turn to. Their stories are fascinating. While CSIS is a civilian organization, it reports to the Minister of National Defence. That’s a simplification of the process, but it’s sufficient for my series. (I’m a little sorry I decided to make the Canadian Minister of National Defence a series villain, though. Our current minister is highly qualified and amazing. We’re pretty proud.)

While I have a background in the defense industry, and I like romantic suspense, as a reader I’d lost interest in the Navy SEAL archetype. How big and bad can these guys get? Frankly, the most impressive people I know appear pretty ordinary, at least on the surface.

I’m also not a huge fan of the “woman in jeopardy” trope. Every little girl and boy should read The Paper Bag Princess. I want my heroes and heroines evenly matched. Intelligence matters. Employment equity is a big issue for me. Self-sufficiency is another. And I think most people expect honesty in a companion.

So what happens when you find the perfect partner—or even better, one who doesn’t seem perfect at all—only to discover they aren’t what they seem?

My Spy Games series focuses on heroes (and heroines) who lie for a living. How are their love interests supposed to get to know them and find out who and what they really are? Can these people be trusted? What are their core values?

These were the questions I chose to explore, so don’t expect any firefights.  Fireworks, perhaps...

The first Spy Games story, Her Spy to Have, opens with my heroine, Isabelle, caught trying to sell her passport in Thailand. (She was desperate. Don’t judge her.) A cat and mouse game ensues. Neither she nor Garrett can be trusted, and they both want to uncover the other’s secrets.

In the second story, Her Spy to Hold, Kale is a spy who’s met his match in Irina, a super-smart weapons placement design expert. He’s never had to impress a woman before, and she’s especially hard to impress.

In the third book, Her Spy at Night, impetuous Marlies is the spy. She gives Harry, Canada’s staid trade commissioner, a few new things to consider. He knows what the spy world entails. Against his better judgment, and at a serious risk to his career, he’s fascinated by her.

And in book number four, CSIS team leader Dan’s past catches up to him in the form of Alycia, the woman he loved and lost—to his best friend. Alycia’s not the type of woman to pine for a man, however. Especially one who made it clear she comes second in his life. She’s moved on. When their work brings them back together, a shared tragedy will keep them apart. (FYI, I love Dan. This guy is tortured.)

The Spy Games series is barely beginning. Dan and Alycia’s story will take the characters and their story world in a slightly different direction, since the original series plot is about to be resolved.

For anyone interested in learning more about Canada’s spy organization, you can read the Act here.

His Spy at Night (Spy Games, Book 3)

For love of the game.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service officer Marlies Wiersma plays hard and loves harder—sometimes with disastrous results. After falling for a man who wasn’t who he pretended to be, Lies is anxious to prove to her boss that she won’t make the same mistake twice. She accepts an assignment which pits her against a charming crime lord—and alongside a diplomat with no patience for spy games, particularly feminine ones.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

When a national security threat results in Canadian Defence Trade Commissioner Harry Jordan harboring a spy in his embassy office, his instincts scream that Lies Wiersma is a woman not to be trusted. The two of them are supposed to be on the same team, but Lies is a little too good at these games for Harry’s personal comfort. He’s been burned by a woman before.

Harry’s reluctance to play along proves to be too much temptation for fun-loving Lies to resist, and once again, she finds herself in over her head with a man. This time, however, he’s exactly who he claims to be.

Now Lies has to convince Harry that, no matter who she pretends to be during the day, at night she’s all his.

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MEET THE MOM SQUAD, THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF THE SHADOW OPS TEAM

I first met author C.J. Lyons in 2004 when we were both finalists in Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart competition. The initial round of judging for Golden Heart back then was done anonymously. Judges had no way of knowing the names of the authors whose works they were reading. I had been judging Golden Heart for several years at that point and had never given a perfect score to any of the manuscripts I’d read—until I read what turned out to be C.J.’s submission.

C.J. and I became friends, and she went on to become a NY Times bestselling author with books she branded as "Thrillers with Heart." Two years ago C.J. published her Shadow Ops trilogy (Chasing Shadows, Lost in Shadows, and Edge of Shadows) about a group of covert operatives who risk both their lives and their hearts to protect our country. Her fans loved the stories and asked for more, but C.J. had moved on to writing other books. So she decided to partner with Amazon to add Shadow Ops to the Kindle Worlds program. I was one of the authors invited to contribute a story.

The wonderful thing about the Kindle Worlds program is that authors are asked to use the original world as a springboard but write their own stories in their own voices. I was told to write a “Lois Winston” book with my trademark sense of humor but tie it into C.J.’s Shadow Ops world.

The result of that challenge is Mom Squad, a romantic suspense Shadow Ops novella featuring Cassandra Davenport, a heroine whose outlook on life and Jersey girl attitude will remind readers of some of my other protagonists, such as Anastasia Pollack from my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series; Gracie Elliott from my Empty Nest Mystery series; Nori Stedworth from Talk Gertie to Me and Elementary, My Dear Gertie; Polly Faith Harmony from Four Uncles and a Wedding; and Dori Johnson from Someone to Watch Over Me.

Here's a blurb:

When Cassandra Davenport applies for a job at www.savingtheworld.us, she expects to find a ‘green’ charity. Instead, she becomes the newest member of a covert organization run by Rose Prospero, the former head of the Special Threats Response Team. Dubbed the Mom Squad, the organization is the brainchild of three former college roommates—attorney general Anthony Granville, ex-FBI agent Gavin Demarco, and tech billionaire Liam Hatch—all of whom have lost loved ones at the hands of terrorists. Financed by Hatch, they work without the congressional oversight that hampered STR, reporting directly to Granville.

Demarco heads up one of the six groups that comprise the new operation. He hires Cassandra as the newest member of his New Jersey based team. In the course of monitoring possible terrorism threats, the Mom Squad discovers a link to Cassandra’s ex-husband. Before she’s fully trained, Cassandra is thrust into a world where her ex may be involved with ISIS-radicalized terrorists bent on killing as many Americans as possible. 

And while they’re saving the world from an imminent attack, what in the world will Cassandra do about all that sexual tension simmering between her and her new boss?

To celebrate the release of Mom Squad, I'm giving away this framed, counted cross stitch design of the Pledge of Allegiance. The framed piece measures 10" x 12" and is one of the designs I created several years ago for The Cross Stitcher magazine. The contest is exclusively for subscribers to my newsletter. If you'd like a chance to win, you can sign up for the newsletter here.

Mom Squad is only $1.99 and like all the Kindle Worlds books, only available from Amazon as an ebook. If you don’t own a Kindle, you can download a free app for your computer, tablet, or phone.

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CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--GUEST AUTHOR AND KNITTER VICKI DOUDERA

When she's not knitting, Vicki Doudera writes novels, short stories, and nonfiction. High--stakes real estate is the backdrop of her Darby Farr Mystery Series, with the latest, Deal Killer, set in Manhattan. Vicki's books have twice been chosen by Suspense Magazine as top reads, with 2013's Final Settlement named a "Best Cozy" of the year.  MWA’s new anthology Ice Cold and Level Best's Rogue Wave both feature her short stories. You can read more about Vicki and her books at her website. 

The heroine of my mystery series, Darby Farr, doesn’t knit, and I’m not sure why not.  As a practicing Aikido expert, she’s good with her hands, and goodness knows she could use a thick sweater (or two) to help weather the winters in her hometown of Hurricane Harbor, Maine.  But Darby’s never picked up a ball of yarn—not in one of the five books—which actually surprises me, because this is a craft that I love.

The first time I held knitting needles and practiced my purling, I was probably ten or so, with either my grandmother or great aunt (they lived together and were both crafty ladies) by my side. Since then, I’ve made all kinds of things—mittens, socks, scarves, cowls, sweaters, hats and, last winter—a fabulous cabled skirt. Many of these gems have been gifts, received with a delighted “thank you!” and worn with pride. At least that’s what I always thought, until I gave my mother the Boomerang Shawl two Christmases ago.

Here’s what happened. Mom opened the box with the shawl (pattern available on Ravelry) and she smiled, tried it on, and thanked me. I thought the project had come out pretty well. I knitted it in muted colors in a soft Alpaca wool, although truthfully it came out a bit denser than I’d intended. This was because I used a needle two sizes smaller than the pattern had indicated, so rather than being lacy and light, the shawl was on the meaty side. But I convinced myself that density equaled warmth, and given our New England winters of late, warmth was darn good.

Last winter—one of the coldest on record—I realized I had never seen my mother wear the

shawl. Not once in two frigid winters!  Keep in mind that my mother lives only a block away, visits frequently, and is one of those people who makes a point of wearing whatever you give her when she’s in your presence.  Why, then, had she never sported her Boomerang Shawl?

The answer hit me like a sack of skeins:  she didn’t like it.

Of course I could have asked her where her pretty shawl was hiding, but that would have meant embarrassing her. Instead, I crafted a bold plan—something my mystery heroine would do. I decided to steal the shawl, take it apart, and reknit it with the right needle size.

Two weeks ago, while Mom was at work at the local hospital, I unlocked her door, sneaked past the cat, and headed upstairs in search of the shawl. I was nearly ready to give up when I found it, tucked in the back of a bottom drawer, behind a bunch of lilac-scented hankies. I secreted it home, and that night I ripped out all those carefully made stitches.

Deconstruction of the shawl was easier than I thought. I balled the yarn and let it “rest” for a day or two to help settle out the kinks. And then I got busy with bigger needles and reknit the shawl.

It came out beautifully. Airy, yet warm, with a wonderful pattern up the back. I love it, and have tucked it in my own lilac-scented drawer, although I promise you it will get worn.

Will I return the gift to its rightful owner? I’m not sure. I’d have to explain to mom why I took it back and that could be awkward. I may just keep it myself. And that’s okay, I think. My Boomerang Shawl’s simply living up to its name.

Deal Killer

A Darby Farr Mystery

Murder comes to Manhattan when Realtor-turned-sleuth Darby Farr arrives in the Big Apple and finds big trouble: her boyfriend Miles Porter’s a suspect in the brutal stabbing of a Russian businessman. Setting out to prove his innocence, Darby discovers that Central Park Place—the luxury residence where Miles lives—is a hotbed of wealthy tenants with well-guarded secrets. One of them is Natalia Kazakova, a billionaire’s daughter and the victim’s not-so-distraught fiancée, whose investigative journalism has caught the attention of Russia’s shadowy security agency. With the looming threat of Soviet-era spies and a long list of rich and devious suspects, Darby must work fast to stop a killer who knows no bounds.

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