#MURDER & #MANUSCRIPTS--GRACIE ELLIOTT'S FORAY INTO THE WORLD OF #PUBLISHING

My Midlife Crisis

By Gracie Elliott

Have you ever lost a job? I suppose most people have at one time or another, but for me it was a new—and totally shocking—experience. I had worked for the same company my entire adult life until the morning I arrived at the office to find my career had been outsourced to a Third World nation.

I don’t work in customer service, billing, or tech support. I’m a textile designer. How could this happen? Who ever heard of outsourcing creativity? Did the Pope outsource The Sistine Chapel to a call center in India, handing them a paint-by-numbers cheat sheet from which to work? No, he hired one of Italy’s premier artists to create one of the world’s great masterpieces.

Then, as if losing my job weren’t enough, to add insult to injury, I learned I was also losing my pension, thanks to some underhanded financial skullduggery. Talk about a double-whammy!

What do you do when you’re middle-aged, out of work, and have two kids in college? After going through the five stages of grief—and also wondering why I had to fall in love with a college professor instead of a trust fund baby—I pulled up my big girl pants and set out to look for another job, only to learn no one was interested in hiring a forty-something fabric designer.

The only solution was to turn entrepreneurial and create a new career for myself. My first foray (documented in Definitely Dead by Lois Winston), was Relatively Speaking, a matchmaking service for senior citizens. However, what I really wanted to do was write romance novels. Relatively Speaking afforded me plenty of time to pen my future bestsellers because my clients needed several hours each morning to find their teeth, lube their creaky joints, and deal with GI necessities. They also always turned in shortly after the early bird specials each evening. What I didn’t anticipate was someone murdering Client Number Thirteen—and almost murdering me. So much for my fledgling business!

However, during the short time that Relatively Speaking existed, I was able to work on my novel and eventually finished it. I entered a writing competition and took first place, winning the prestigious Cream of the Crop Award. Maybe I didn’t need to find another business venture after all. My dream of becoming a bestselling romance author was about to come true. So I set off for the Society of American Romance Writers’ annual conference, fully expecting a bevy of editors to vie for my book. I had visions of them lining up to toss offers at my feet.

Unfortunately, something other than book contracts landed at my feet—literally. Another dead body. And not just any dead body but the body of Lovinia Darling, the Queen of Romance. Find out how I deal with manuscripts and murder and get a behind-the-scenes look at the seamier side of the publishing world in Literally Dead, the second book in the Empty Nest Mystery series.

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KILLER CRAFTS & CRAFTY KILLERS HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE, PART 4

If you’re an author, you might be in need of a holiday gift for your critique buddies or the gift exchange at your local writing group. If so, check out Top Ten Reasons Your Novel is Rejected, a writing book offers advice from a publishing insider who has been on both sides of the table.

Over the years Lois Winston has given workshops and talks to several thousand aspiring writers. As a literary agent, she’s listened to hundreds of pitches and read through tens of thousands of query letters and manuscript submissions. Being both a published author and a literary agent gives her a unique perspective on publishing. She knows what it’s like to be the writer whose only desire is to sell a novel, and she knows what it’s like to have to crush someone’s hopes with a rejection letter. It wasn’t until she started sending out those rejection letters that she began to have a better understanding of why so many writers receive them.

What she’s come to realize is that most manuscripts are rejected by agents and editors for one or more of ten basic reasons. Writers have control over some of these reasons but not all of them. This book will discuss these ten reasons and how writers can control more of their destiny by not falling prey to them.

Whether your goal is to be published by a legacy publishing house or you plan to self-publish, this book contains invaluable information about self-editing, grammar, punctuation, point of view, telling vs. showing, passive vs. active writing, dialogue, narrative, voice, style, hooks, query letters, and synopsis writing.

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KILLER CRAFTS & CRAFTY KILLERS HOLIDAY SHOPPING GUIDE--CYBER MONDAY EDITION

Today is Cyber Monday. Around the world tens of thousands (if not more) people will be stealing time out of their workday to nail down some of their holiday shopping, hoping to score some great gift deals. Over the next few weeks we’ll all continue to shop, often online. So here at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers we’re offering some gift suggestions in the form of books—both the old-fashioned kind and the digital kind—that will make some of your recipients squeal with glee—or in the case of today’s offering, drool with delight.

Up first today is Bake, Love, Write: 105Authors Share Dessert Recipes and Advice on Love and Writing, a dessert cookbook and so much more. This book not only includes 105 scrumptious dessert recipes, but it introduces readers to some wonderful authors who offer advice on life, love, and writing. Best of all, by purchasing this book, you’re helping feed hungry kids. A percentage of all sales will be donated to No KidHungry.

Bake, Love, Write: 105 Authors Share Dessert Recipes and Adviceon Love and Writing

edited by Lois Winston

What do most authors have in common, no matter what genre they write? They love desserts. Sweets sustain them through pending deadlines and take the sting out of crushing rejection letters and nasty reviews. They also often celebrate their successes—selling a book, winning a writing award, making a bestseller list, or receiving a fabulous review—with decadent indulgences. And when authors chat with each other, they often talk about their writing and their lives. Recipes. Writing. Relationships. In this cookbook 105 authors not only share their favorite recipes for fabulous cakes, pies, cookies, candy, and more, they also share the best advice they’ve ever received on writing and relationships.

Authors who participated in Bake, Love, Write include: Brenda Novak, Lois Winston, Debra Holland, Dale Mayer, Shelley Noble, Caridad Pineiro, Diana Orgain, Lisa Verge Higgins, Lynn Cahoon, Jasmine Haynes, Jan Carol, Meg Bellamy, Bobbi Chukran, Melissa Keir, Amy Gamet, Kristy Tate, Terry Shames, Barbara Phinney, Kitsy Clare, Raine English, Cathryn Cade, Haley Whitehall, Shilpa Mudiganti, Melinda Curtis, Jessa Slade, Jill Blake, Daryl Devore, Molly MacRae, Elizabeth Rose, Helena Fairfax, Lourdes Venard, Jessica Aspen, Maegan Beaumont, Kay Kendall, Elizabeth John, Victoria Adams, Cyndi Pauwels, Alice Loweecey, June Shaw, Donnell Ann Bell, T. Michelle Nelson, Nina Milton, Pam DeVoe, Skye Taylor, Conda V. Douglas, Pepper Phillips, Judy Alter, Cadence Denton, Lesley Diehl, Erin Farwell, Regan Walker, Kaye Spencer, Barbara Monajem, Kathleen Kaska, Catherine Kean, Rose Anderson, Suzie Tullett, Deborah Hughes, Cynthia Luhrs, Judy Baker, Alicia Dean, Leslie Langtry, Janis Susan May, Mitzi Flyte, Ruby Merritt, Renee D. Field, Kathryn Quick, Susan Cory, Judy Penz Sheluk, Kay Manis, Kathryn Jane, Debra Goldstein, E. Ayers, Chantilly White, Sloan McBride, Triss Stein, Ana Morgan, Adele Downs, L.C. Giroux, Pamela Aares, Nancy Warren, Barbara Lohr, J.J. Cook, Lynn Reynolds, Cori Arnold, B.V. Lawson, Lynn Franklin, M.L. Guida, Irene Peterson, Sue Viders, Liese Sherwood-Fabre, Susan Santangelo, Sheila Seabrook, Elaine Charton, Sharleen Scott, Kathy Bennett, Jody Payne, Reggi Allder, Ashlyn Chase, Beverley Bateman, Susan Lohrer, Donis Casey, Barbara Leavy, Stacy Juba, Karen Rose Smith.

Check out the Bake, Love, Write video author Kaye Spencer created for the cookbook.

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR ANN EVERETT AND WHAM-BAM-YAM POUND CAKE #RECIPE

Ann Everett is an award winning and Amazon bestselling author. She lives on a small lake in Texas where she writes, bakes, and fights her addiction to Diet Dr. Peppers. Learn more about Ann and her books at her website.

Those Crazy Texas Names!

If you’re a writer, do you ever get reviews that make you laugh? I do. Here’s an excerpt from one I received.

“As a born and raised and lived in Texas all my life, I know no one that goes by silly nicknames as pattycake and sweetiepie.” (Should be Pattiecake and Sugarpie, not sweetiepie)

Anyway, why did that make me laugh? Because as the author, I know the history behind those character names. They belong to my sister and me. That’s what our grandchildren call us… and pretty much everyone else. So, said reviewer may not know any Texans with silly nicknames, but I sure do!

Here are some examples: Buttcut, Booger Red, Possum, Slime, Bardol, Slick, Rabbit, Pork Chop, Sweet Pea, and Lightning. Three of those belong to females!

The only reason I can think of that would cause a native to be uninformed of the rich history of ridiculous Lone Star monikers is that she is a “city girl!”

In my Tizzy/Ridge Trilogy, which is set in the actual town of Brownsboro, Texas, I use many genuine crazy names.

When I wrote the first book, I wanted to include family members. I figured with names like Pattiecake and Sugarpie we should be bakers or strippers! Since we both love to cook, it was pretty much a no-brainer. Plus, if we danced on a pole, we might throw our backs out! So, we became owners of Sweet Thangs Bakery, and because it’s fiction, I made us younger with bigger boobs!

Many scenes take place in the bakery, and the owners are full of advice, just as my sister and I are in real life.

Today, just in time for Thanksgiving, I’m posting a delicious recipe from my cookbook, Sweet Thangs: Southern Sweets from Two Sassy Sisters…and silly or not, Pattiecake and Sugarpie really exist!

Wham-Bam-Yam Pound Cake and Glaze

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

2 cups granulated sugar

1-1/2 cups baked, mashed yams (sweet potatoes)*

4 eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

2 Tablespoons bourbon (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease two loaf pans or a 10 inch tube pan with butter. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs and sugar at high speed for 3 minutes or until thick and light color. Add oil, melted butter, and vanilla, beating at low speed until combined. Add the potatoes, beating until combined and stopping to scrape down sides of bowl.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.

In another small bowl, whisk together the bourbon and buttermilk.

Set the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, combining after each addition.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out fairly clean.

Transfer pans to wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack and remove from pans, and allow to cool completely.

* We used 3 medium size yams. We pierced them with a knife and placed on a baking sheet and baked for about an hour or until soft in a 375 degree oven. Canned yams may also be used in place of fresh. Just drain the juice and mash.

Glaze

Ingredients

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

3 Tablespoons bourbon

3/4 cup toasted pecans

Directions

Place sugar, butter, and syrup in a saucepan over low heat and stir until melted. Bring to a boil and simmer for two minutes. Remove from heat and stir in pecans, bourbon, and vanilla. Spoon glaze over warm cake.

Sweet Thangs

In Ann Everett’s Tizzy/Ridge Romance Trilogy, fictional characters Pattiecake McAlister and Sugarpie Monroe cook up delicious confections at Sweet Thangs Bakery. These recipes are from the kitchens of real life sisters, Pattie Ball and Carol Mayfield.

Inside this book, they share more than 130 homemade recipes, including luscious cakes, yummy cookies, sweet salads, delectable pies, scrumptious candy, and delightful drinks, perfect for special occasions or gift giving.

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HEALTHY LIVING--OR PERHAPS NOT--WITH GUEST AUTHOR JEAN LAMB

llustration of a "zodiac man" From John of Arderne's Medieval book "Mirror of Phlebotomy & Practice of Surgery".

Jean Lamb recently took early retirement to write full time. She currently has three novels to her credit with a fourth due out soon. She has also written fanfic on www.fanfiction.net using the name of excessivelyperky. Learn more about her and her books at her Amazon author page. Today Jean talks about giving your characters health issues.

Medical Knowledge—Your Guide to Heightening Tension

Mary Jo Putney said it best: “Research is hard. Torturing heroes is fun.” Granted, you can always bring in a horrible villain with hot irons and a bad attitude, but as the Wicked Witch of the West once said, “These things must be done delicately.”

I used to be a nurse’s aide, and have tried to keep up with general medical knowledge. I once scored a copy of Grey’s Anatomy at a library sale. The human body is capable of sustaining torments and problems far in excess of what the most ingenious bad guy could ever think of.

Let’s take childbirth and all its attendant problems, just for one example. In the soon-to-be-released Phoenix in Shadow, I have a heroine (Lady Idabel) who has miscarried several times (and there are hints that she was helped along that path by the enemy). Now she’s pregnant with twins.

What could possibly go wrong? I am sure many readers are ahead of me here. Lady Idabel is a relatively small woman carrying twins, and just to make things even more fun, she is most heavily pregnant during a hot summer. She’s having bad headaches, swollen ankles and wrists, and sometimes turns an unpleasant shade of grayish-yellow. Pre-eclampsia is such a complicated phrase for ‘kidneys going tits-up’. And to make things even more exciting, her lord is away at war, leaving her with few officials to pass the buck to when envoys from another land come calling for the Phoenix Empire’s assistance. So despite her ill health, she makes what she believes to be the best decision, only to have it go all wrong. Stress much?

And then there’s the actual childbirth. Rudyard Kipling said it best, in his line, “She risks death by torture for each life beneath her heart.” But it helps to have medical knowledge of what is really going on, rather than swiping from oh, say, the relevant bits of Gone With the Wind while describing such an event.

Phoenix in Shadow isn’t the only novel where I have had fun with medical knowledge. In Dead Man’s Hand I explore what it’s like to be badly burned, the psychological implications of changed body image, and idiosyncratic drug reactions. All of these are central to the hero’s struggle throughout the book.

There are lots of research materials available for authors to read up on medical problems, drug interactions, and strange things that human bodies are apt to do. Heroes and heroines are not always healthy, wounds do not always heal instantly and with no after-effects, and if the hero lives long enough, old age is not always hearty. A hero’s struggle against the odds can be made even more exciting with various handicaps as well—Miles Vorkosigan in the Bujold books is a prime example.

It’s well worth the trouble to give this dimension to your characters and plot. 

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR BETH CAUDILL

Although Beth Caudill grew up in West Virginia, she currently resides in North Carolina with her husband, two sons and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who makes an excellent lap warmer. Blending the analytical and creative sides of her brain, she delights in creating fantasy worlds for others. Catch her online most days, except when NCIS and Once Upon a Time air. Read more about her at her website. 

Creating Something Positive When Your Muse Deserts You

Author Nightmare – The Blank Screen of Doom

Writing a story is always an adventure. No matter how many books you’ve created, the process is full of wonder and frustration. Interesting things happen when the process no longer works.

I needed to take some time off last year after publishing Enchantress’ Destiny, the second novella in my Paranormals of Arilase series.  I was homeschooling both my sons and the oldest, who had started high school, was not adjusting well. We made it through summer, and he started a new private school with small classrooms.

My youngest is still at home and while he started middle school, I do have time to write.  I thought I’d be able to make good progress in the fall. Except my writing went nowhere.  My usual process wasn’t working, I couldn’t get a handle on my characters, and words didn’t magically appear on the page.

I can’t express how frustrating it was for me to know I finally had the time to write, but the stories that had always been in my life weren’t there when I sat down at the computer. I’d get glimpses of scenes while driving or in the shower, but when I was at the computer there was nothing. Just a black well of emptiness.

I needed to try something new. But staring at Character and Plot Worksheets gave me hives. Line upon line of information to fill out.  As a pantster, my muse shuts down every time I look at them.  (You can search on “Character Worksheet” and find tons of examples, anywhere from 3 pages to 20+ pages of information.) 

That’s why I’d developed my digital story bible.  I could fill in a limited amount of information and add to it as I wrote.  But now I needed to do something non-digital.  Something tactile to help my creative muse along.

In college I had to write notes, even when professors provided copies of lectures, in order to remember things. A recent study also discovered that students have a better understanding of material when they hand write their notes versus using a laptop.

I needed to create my own paper version of my digital process. Something fun to design yet still provides the information for my story. An area for brainstorming, characters, plot, world building, and research.  Pages for notes and sections for maps and character sketches.

Here is an example of one of the plot pages from the Mystery Writer’s Mini Story Bible for Bedside and Travel.

When I started, I thought it would be ten to fifteen pages. In reality, I ended up with fifty plus pages to capture everything necessary for one story. 

While I write mostly fantasy, I have friends who create science fiction, historical, and urban fantasy stories. We all need to collect similar information; only specific details may differ. With feedback from my friends Judy Teel and Sky Purington, I put together a collection of six print mini story bibles for writers to store their initial story ideas.

Best of all, I’ve been able to make progress on writing again.  I’m hard at work on the third novella in my Paranormals of Arilase series.

The Mystery Writer’s Mini Story Bible for Bedside and Travel

Imagine. Discover. Write.

The Mystery Writer’s Mini Story Bible for Bedside and Travel is your first stop along the path to writing. You set the pace for exploring the imaginary worlds and conflicts within your stories.

Each book section includes an area for you to brainstorm words associated with your idea, detail pages for up to five characters including picture and attire frames, diagram and notes for cataloging your plot points including the murder layout, space to sketch settings and scenes, lines for recording your research and more.

Keep your story details in one convenient journal that easily travels or resides next to your bed. Ideas come at all hours of the day, don’t lose your thoughts because you couldn’t find paper.

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GUEST AUTHOR KIT FRAZIER ON 10 MINUTES TO A MORE CREATIVE LIFE

photo by Moyan Brenn from Anzio, Italy

Kit Frazier is an award-winning mystery author whose books have been Mystery Guild Book-of-the-Month selections and who was named Author of the Month at Barnes & Noble. Titles include Scoop and Dead Copy, among others. A former journalist, Kit lives on a working cattle ranch outside of Austin, Texas. Learn more about Kit and her books at her website. 

10 Minutes to a More Creative Life

By Kit Frazier

I know it seems counter intuitive to spend time to save time, but hear me out on this. I had a hard time meditating when I first started because I can't get my brain to shut the hell up. But I've found you don't have to completely shut down, and for me, setting a specific time on my meditation doesn't work; i.e.--I must meditate for 20 minutes--no I don't. I meditate as long as it's beneficial, and the more I meditate, the easier it is.

Part of the beauty of meditating is teaching your mind to be patient with itself.

Yeah, I know. Gah!

A recent study from Harvard University and the University of Sienna found that the powers of meditation go way beyond the whole self-awareness and improving concentration-thing--we've all *know* meditating helps the heart and bolsters the immune system. But consistent bouts of *small* meditation also cuts anxiety and depression--clouds that seem to haunt writers and other creatives.

My Morning Meditation is simple. I call it The Bearable Lightness of *Being*

Find a quiet place to sit and relax. Turn off your phone, put it away and dim the lights. This is your time. A time for total relaxation and inner stillness.

Take a moment to make sure that your clothing is loose and comfortable and that you are seated and comfortable. Rest your hands loosely in your lap.

Now, figuratively close your eyes and understand that you are a Daughter of Creativity.

Take a long, slow, deep breath in . . . hold it for a count of four, and then slowly exhale.

Allow any tension to melt away as your body relaxes more and more deeply with each breath.

Take another long slow, deep breath in . . . hold it for a count of five, and then exhale slowly.

Empty your lungs completely with your exhalation.

Take a third deep breath in. Take your time. Hold it for a count of six and then let it go.

With the release of your breath, you can feel yourself drifting into a state of deep relaxation and creativity.

Suspended above your head is a Golden Ball of Light. It is warm, and gentle, granting you peace and shelter from all harm, from all worry.

You notice and acknowledge that the Golden Ball of Light is the Creative Spirit that lives within you. You welcome this Light as an old friend . . .

You realize the golden light smells slightly of honey,  and you breathe it in, infusing your body with the scent of warm sweet smell . . . your skin warms at the familiar scent . . .

As you continue to breathe, the Golden Ball of Light slowly descends, streaming creativity as it barely brushes the tips of your hair.

You welcome this warm touch as the glowing light descends, flowing along and into your scalp, infusing its welcome presence in every cell of your mind, sparking new ideas, completing old and broken thoughts, and comfort comes in this new confidence . . .

You are Creative . . . acknowledge this awareness, and that awareness brings you peace . . .

The warmth continues, and flowing down and down, over and around your face, and you taste the honey of the light on your tongue as it pours through your blood.

You swallow the light, delighting in its sweet taste, as it feeds your mind and body and spirit and creativity . . . you acknowledge the creativity . . .

The Light continues down and down, flooding over your shoulders, you feel it streaming through the veins in your arms, infusing your blood with energy and peace and the spark of ideas, flexing your fingers as it sparks in your fingertips . . . there is power in this knowledge and you know it all the way into the middle of your bones . . .

The light continues, illuminating your lungs, filling them with deep breaths of fresh air, fresh ideas, fresh feelings awaiting your call . . .

Breathing deeply this breath of life, the Light fills your belly, bathes your organs in the soft glow, sends the light rushing through your abdomen, coursing down your legs, carrying your weight on the wind, on your breath . . .  your body is weightless  and anything is possible . . .

The light courses down and down, running the over and around your thighs, flexing in your knees and calves, down, surrounding you with warmth and light, it surrounds your weightless ankles, caresses the arches of your feet and you notice the Light’s tingling presence in your fingers and toes . . .

The Light is Complete, it completes the circle of energy that is your body . . . the Light floods you inside, filling your body, it surrounds you from the outside, embraces you like a warm, gentle hug and you are surrounded by creativity . . .

You are one with the Universe, and all is possible . . . all is likely . . . all is coming to you, through you, around you . . .

You recognize the light as an Old Friend . . . it is as familiar as an old song . . .

Breath deeply, taking in the light . . .

You are vast. You are weightless. You are timeless. Your path is Clear . . .

All is obtainable, you are able, you are willing, you are one with the Universe . . .

You are ready to take on the World . . .

Now . . .Take a deep breath. Open your eyes. And Write . . .

A MacKinnon Christmas

Cauley’s Christmas To Do List:

1. Identify the Dead Guy.

Not the usual intro to a Christmas To Do List but not so unusual for obituary writer Cauley MacKinnon.

Her problem is complicated by the way the dead guy died--he was gunned down while busting up a convenience store robbery in an eerily similar incident that killed her cop father, ten years before.

Adding to her troubles, she's preparing for her mother's Annual Pre-Christmas Feast of Dysfunction, avoiding her Mama's Knock You Naked eggnog--and she's got exactly 12 hours to make FBI Agent Tom Logan fall in love with her . . .

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