Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar?

In honor of Halloween I thought I'd write a short mystery about a missing treat. Enjoy!

“Who stole the last cookie from the cookie jar,” I yelled upon discovering the Oreo cookie I’d been dreaming about all day was gone.

My husband looked up from where he was reading the newspaper.

“Was it you.” I stood, hands on hips, nodding pointedly at the glass of milk in front of him.

“Wasn’t me. I’d never get between you and your Oreos.”

“Hmph,” I replied turning back to the scene of the theft. I spied a small crumb on the corner of the counter, and another one on the floor. Aha! The thief left a trail for me to follow. Down the hall, past the bathroom and into the guest bedroom, I followed the crumbs.

“Grandma! You stole the cookie from the cookie jar.”

“Who me?”

“Yes, you.”

“Couldn’t be,” she said, pointing to the half-eaten blueberry muffin on the desk. “You know I don’t like cookies. They’re too sweet.”

“Then who?” She shrugged her shoulders and took a bite of her muffin.

Back to square one, I returned to the kitchen. Who else could have stolen my cookie? I picked up the jar and turned it over. A smear of red caught my eye. Finger paint!

I tiptoed to the den. I could hear my kids, three year old Jenna and seven year old Max, laughing. I peeked around the corner. Max had clearly been teaching Jenna how to finger paint. Briefly I noted he had remembered to spread out newspaper, so that the mess was easily erased. Was that worth my last Oreo though? I think not.

“I’m ho-ome,” I sang ala Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

“Mommy,” Jenna jumped up and ran to hug me. I held her back for a moment. “Let mommy take a look at you. I missed your pretty face today,” I said searching the corners of her mouth for tell-tale signs of chocolate. Nothing.

“You didn't steal mommy's cookie from the cookie jar, did you sweetie?”

Jenna leaned toward me, pushed my hair out of the way, and whispered into my ear. "Max took your cookie, mommy."

"Max took my cookie from the cookie jar?"

Max wiped his sleeve across his face, leaving a touch of blue paint on his cheek. "Whoma," he gulped. "Who me?"

"Yes you!"

In reply, my son smiled at me, all that was left of my Oreo spread across his teeth.

Breakthrough!

I had a breakthrough today. I realized that because I kept telling myself that I didn't want my main character to be too much like me, I was actually pushing her away from me and so couldn't get a grip on her. What I realized was because the book is in so many ways based on my own experiences with the travel industry, it would be impossible to separate myself and my experiences from her and her experiences. Trying to do so left only a vacuum and a very flat one-dimensional character.

So I began to think about what parts of my own backstory I could give her and what parts of my personality I would want to change and suddenly she started to become alive.

I don't know if this makes me a weaker author or not, but I now realize, for me at least, I can't create a character that doesn't have parts of me in it. I can't just pick a backstory I think sounds interesting and some character traits and create a main character who feels genuine. Maybe I could if the story line were completely seperate from my own life, but not when its somewhat based on my own experiences.

Abi's not complete yet. I still have to try writing her and see what happens and I need to do a new character sketch but I can feel her inside me for the first time.

I've never been pregnant but I'd hazard to say that it's like I can feel the first few kicks, the first glimmers of a living being inside of myself. And for the first time, I'm excited about her.

I've been excited about my plot. I've been excited about some of the secondary characters but I've never been excited about Abi before.

Now that I'm feeling some life from Abi, and after the positive phone call I had with the editor a few days ago, I'm feeling pretty good about this mystery novel of mine!

Some good news, some bad

So I had my very first "meeting" with a book editor on Saturday and it went much better than I expected. Oh, I did learn that my main character is totally unlikeable and a real bitch and that I need to rip apart the first chapter and re-write it, but neither of those criticisms were a total surprise to me.

Not a TOTAL surprise I said. I've been saying for awhile that I'm having a hard time getting my characterizations down pat, and I've known, or thought, that my main character was too flat. I didn't realize she was unlikeable. Which, perhaps, is better than flat. I mean she did elicit a response from the editor, right?

And while I knew the pacing was off in my first chapter and that perhaps there was not enough tension, I didn't realize the whole thing would need to be scrapped.

Apparently I introduced too many characters all at once, which I'm guessing may be a novice writer's mistake. Throw everyone in the mix all at once and see what happens. Apparently, that's not the way to do it. Ok, now I know.

Also, while big gala parties are fun in real life, they're not so much fun to read, at least that's what I was told. Do you agree? I kinda liked the description of my party. :(

Oh, there was a bunch of other things I've got to work on and fix and re-work on and re-fix, but I still came away from my meeting feeling pretty good.

First of all, the editor told me I should just finish writing the book before I even begin to do any of the edits, which takes a lot of pressure off. Of course, I kind of ignored the advice (just a teeny bit) and already made some edits because I want to submit my first 50 pages to a mentorship program and don't want to get back the same critique.

But the main reason I feel pretty good is that overall, this editor thought I had a lot of talent and had done a pretty good job for what is my very first attempt at writing a novel. She had some other nice things to say but I don't like to toot my own horn so I'll stop here.

But I will say its so nice to have a "real" person (i.e. someone in the book publishing business, and not, say, my dad) read some of my manuscript and have mostly good things to say about it. That just makes me want to keep writing!

Wish me luck

I have exciting, and terrifying news. I have a phone appointment tomorrow with an acquisitions editor from an independent publishing house tomorrow. I won the appointment in a lottery held by that publishing company as part of an online mystery convention they're hosting, also tomorrow.

I'm excited, especially because she concluded her e-mail to me with the fact that she's looking forward to reading more. But I'm also terrified because I know all the weaknesses my book has and it's going to be hard to hear it from someone else.

But you know what scares me the most? If this editor really does like the idea, and likes the writing she read in the first 13 pages I sent her, she will want to read more, and eventually will want to read the finished (and polished) manuscript. That means I actually have to write the book!

Well, duh, you're saying. Of course I have to write the book, and yes I've slowly been doing so since last January. But really I'm not taking it all as seriously as I should be. In fact, I should be working on my next chapter right now -- not writing an entry for my blog!

I always find ways to procrastinate. I get easily discouraged when the words don't come easily or the flaws in my writing are glaring back at me from the page. I'm quick to close MS Word and find something else to do.

But if this editor tells me she wants more, I can no longer make excuses and quite frankly that scares the you know what out of me!

Of course I want her to want more. I want her to like it so much she wants to read the finished product as soon as I can get it done. But at the same time, I don't know how I can actually get it done. I think in such short terms. My goal is always to get the next chapter done, forget about the whole book!

When I think about actually writing the whole book, then going back and editing it and re-writing it, I can feel my heart start to pound. It's overwhelming.

It's funny because when I work as a writer for a publication, while deadlines do stress me out, they also get my juices flowing. I sometimes think I write some of my best stuff when I'm under deadline. Partly because those pieces are leaner (something all good writing should be). Of course, the pieces I've written under deadline in the past have never been more than a couple thousand words -- not 100,000 words!

It'll be interesting tomorrow. To find out what she likes about the book (I'm assuming she'll find something to like) and what she doesn't like (I KNOW there'll be stuff she's not into). It'll also be interesting to see how I react, to her criticism and to what she wants, especially if that includes a finished book!

It's scary. It's exciting. Wish me luck!

Misery loves company or I'm not alone!

I don't know if something's in the water or if October is self-realization month but around the same time I blogged about my biggest writing weakness being characterization, two other authors blogged about their own writing weaknesses.

While of course I know logically that all authors have their own weaknesses, as a newbie writer its easy to tell myself that my weaknesses are worse than others, than in fact other writers are exaggerating their own weaknesses. And that when I read a book I like, with all the pieces well-put together, that author probably never struggled a day in her life with her writing skills. Creating coherent scenes, believable characters, well-paced action and a satisfying ending just come naturally to those authors.

So it's nice to read about other authors, especially ones I like, speaking about their own struggles. For instance Leann Sweeney, the author of a fun cozy called The Cat, The Quilt and the Corpse, recently wrote on her blog (Writers Plot) about how she has a hard time getting humor into her books, and a hard time with criticism. She blogged about crying while reading her editor's comments and listening to her book group's critiques. As I'm sure I'll probably be hysterical the first time I get a rejection or really tough criticism (at my first staff writing job I used to go the bathroom and cry after my managing editor tore apart my articles) from anyone, its nice to know that I won't be alone.

On the Women of Mystery blog Laura K. Curtis (a so-far unpublished writer) blogged about having trouble with writing love scenes. This from a woman who writes romantic suspense! That's a pretty important aspect to struggle with! So once again, I feel reassured. If a romantic suspense writer can find a way to write love scenes, even though its hard for her, then I can find a way to make my characters believable!

As both writers said in their blogs -- and I've said it before -- writing is work. It's hard and its grueling and its frustrating and it knocks all the confidence out of you. But...

But when you've managed to slog your way through all of that, and all the pieces finally come together, it's magical.

Or at least that's the carrot I'm holding out in front of me since I've never reached that light at the end of the tunnel. But reading about other people's journeys and knowing they did reach the light, I have to have faith it'll be there for me too.

A writing contest for kids

I've noticed lately that a lot of contests out there are for kids, especially the ones that have prizes I would like to be able to win. Since it's been more years than I care to remember since I was a child, I guess I'm going to have to wait until my niece is old enough to participate in these contests. And should she win, I'll also need to figure out how to coax her to choose me over her parents as her guest on the trip she wins.

In the meantime, all the other kids out there pose no competition to me so I see no reason to let others know about cool contests with even cooler prizes.

A new contest is now being offered to budding writers. It's sponsored by Adventures by Disney and HarperCollins and is called "The Search for Flat Stanlety's Next BIG Adventure." Now I've never heard of Flat Stanley and no nothing about any of his adventures but apparently he's pretty well-known among children's literature. So assuming some of you know who he is and have kids who like him, this contest is for them.

Young writers and artists are invited to create their own 150-word Flat Stanley story. Children must be between 7 and 12 to enter and the winner will be awarded an Adventures by Disney vacation. Entries must be recieved by Nov. 30.

Entries will be judged in three age groups: 7- to 8-year olds; 9- to 10-year olds; and 11- to 12-year olds. One winner will be chosen in each age group and each winner can choose one of Adventures by Disney's 19 worldwide vacations for their prize.

Parents, kids and teachers can check out www.FlatStanleyBooks.com/AdventuresbyDisney for Official Rules and complete information on the contest.

Do you know who Flat Stanley is? Have your kids been on an adventure with him? I'd love to hear more about him.

A Harry Potter Halloween in Ireland

I like to play a game called "I have all the money in the world." The game goes like this. I get a catalog in the mail, maybe for clothing or jewelry. Or for kids' educational toys, or for just about anything. I settle myself comfortably on my couch and begin to flip through the catalog picking out the things I would buy if money were not object.

I'm not sure why I enjoy the game so much. I mean I'm not a window shopper. I hate going to stores if I'm not going to buy anything, but somehow doing it with catalogs doesn't bother me. I find it fun to pick out things I would buy if I lived another life.

As a general rule I don't play the same game with travel because that does get me down. Pretending I have the money to take a two-week Caribbean cruise is a lot more depressing than pretending I have the money to buy a pair of earrings.

But recently I got an e-mail advertising a trip that is kinda fun to think about "what if." Maybe because its a bit over-the-top in price with very little value attached that I know I probably wouldn't do it even if I did have all the money in the world.

It's a two-day Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Halloween trip to Ashford Castle in Ireland.

Although the 13th century castle has nothing to do with Harry Potter or wizardry, it's fairy-tale feel, secret rooms, hidden alcoves and mystical setting easily conjure up the fantastical world of Harry Potter, creating a perfect Halloween destination.

The special 2-night Hogwarts Halloween program includes:

Day One:
* A visit to the hiding place of Dingle, Ashford Castle's resident owl
* Afternoon chamber of Witchcraft & Wizardry (I'm not sure what that means exactly)
* Kid's dinner in the Dungeon
* George V Table d'Hote dinner for adults
* Harry Potter movie evening

Day Two:
* Isle of Innisfree passage to Inchagoill Island via boat
* Hidden garden treasure hunt
* Kids' dinner in the Dungeon
* George V Table d'Hote dinner for adults
* Harry Potter movie evening

The two-night package is priced at approximately $690 per night for two adults and two children (under the age of 12) sharing a deluxe queen room. See what I mean by a bit over-the-top in terms of expense! Of course, I think I would feel like I was in a fairy tale if I ever got to stay there.

Just in case you want to know more about Ashford Castle, you can visit its Website at www.ashford.ie.

Writing a Twitter story

A few months back Gotham Writers' Workshops ran an online Twitter story contest. To enter you had to write a short, short story in 140 characters or less. The prize was a free 6-week writing class.

I thought that was a pretty cool idea. How do you create a story with a character and a real desire in just 140 characters. I thought about for awhile and tried a few different things.

Eventually I entered the contest with the following:

Kitty looks up at me with begging eyes. Her tail lashes. Where's the crazy light I like to chase? I sigh and press the button.

I liked it. It's exactly what happens when I buy a laser pointer and bring it home to my cat. She can't get enough of it and begs me (well actually bugs me) to keep playing with her.

Unfortunately Gotham Writers' didn't agree with my evaluation. I didn't win, nor was I a runner up.

I did like the winner's entry though. Written by a woman from New Hampshire, the winning Twitter story was:

Wanting marriage, my niece sobbed, "I'd hate to be Ken's 50 year old girlfriend." At 69 and alone, Id love being 50 and Ken's girlfriend.

There were three runners up. I liked one of them and thought two weren't good at all.

The one I liked was written by a guy from Georgia:

This is agent Nix with the CIA. We've been listening to your phone calls for the last 8 months. Is this a good time to speak with you?

The two others I didn't like were:

I knew she wasn't to be trusted by the scars between her toes. Those scars had seen the worst of life, and learned to keep it all a secret.

Still and silent, until the store closes, then a snack from aisle four, some TV in aisle nine, and I try to forget about being a mannequin.


So what do you think? Want to try your hand at writing a Twitter story? Leave a comment with your attempt.

Struggling with my characters

I've been struggling with my writing lately (hey, what else is new!). As I write I become more and more aware of my faults as a writer, especially as I'm also reading other mysteries at the same time and see how well other writers do the things I'm having difficulty with.

One of my weakest skills, if not my weakest, is characterization. Most of my characters feel flat to me, not quite real. And I'm not sure how to make them better. I've read the books, blogs, articles about creating compelling characters and I've tried to use some of what I've read, but they just don't seem to be clicking.

Except for one. I do have one character, Major, who feels real to me. I'm not sure why he's been my most successful character. When I first wrote him, I didn't realize he was going to play an important part in the story. But I quickly grew to like him very much and wanted him to be a bigger part of the story.

But my other characters, and especially my main character, Abi, just seem to fall flat. In my mind I know what is supposed to drive Abi but on paper I haven't been able to communicate that properly yet.

It's depressing because I read how other authors begin to see their characters as living, breathing entities. The characters tell them what works and what doesn't. I don't seem to feel that, except with Major.

There are these exercises a writer is supposed to do where I write out all the little characteristics about my main character in order to know her as well as possible. Like, what would she wear to a party, what does she like to eat, what curse words does she use when she gets angry, etc. And while it's easy to simply fill in anything you want, I've found that doesn't work for me. I simply draw a blank when I see these questions. I don't know what Abi would wear. I don't know what Abi likes to eat. I don't know what curse words she uses.

I do know she tugs her hair when she gets stressed or nervous. I do know she snaps at people when she's scared or angry. I do know that she hates crossword puzzles and mystery novels, but can't keep her nose out of other people's business. I know she's always surprised and upset when she's confronted with the fact that life isn't fair.

Is that knowledge enough? Would knowing what food Abi likes to eat and what she wears to a fancy party make her seem more real to me? I don't know. All I do know is that right now she's still two one-dimensional and it's driving me crazy.

Maybe I just need to practice, or most likely I just need to keep writing and eventually she'll start to emerge more and more, like a fictional butterfly trapped in the pages of my writing, just waiting to break free and fly on her own. I just wish she'd do it sooner rather than later!

I've always wanted to try the message in a bottle thing

Has anyone ever seen the TV movie "Mermaid?" (No, I'm not talking about the Cher/Winona Ryder movie!) It's about a little girl whose father has died and she's having trouble accepting it. Her mom has told her he's in heaven but she wants to know when he's coming home. Her grandmother suggests she write him a letter, which of course she addresses to Heaven. It gets returned to her as undeliverable and she's even more upset. Then someone suggests that she tie the letter to a balloon so it can float to heaven. She gets a balloon at a local fair that has a mermaid on it, ties the letter to it and lets it go. By the way, she's in Maine (I think, it could be some other New England state).

Sweet right, a different twist on the message in a bottle story. Of course someone has to find the balloon right? Yep. A few days later the balloon has managed to travel thousands of miles (without getting damaged) to Prince Edward Island, Canada to a small community called Mermaid. A hunter sees the balloon, notices its got a mermaid on it (remember, the name of the community he lives in) and goes to check it out and of course finds the letter. He takes it home to his family, where they open the letter, read it and are so touched by its contents that they respond. From that moment on the little girl begins to recover from her father's death and a life-long friendship begins.

The skeptic in all of us is probably saying, how nice, very sweet, but please, really? The balloon travels thousands of miles without popping? It just happens to land in Mermaid? But get this... the story is actually true! Of course, from what I understand a few liberties were taken, but overall the main facts are true.

Makes you think, doesn't it? I mean is it just random or was something guiding that balloon?

Just a few days ago there was a similar story in the news, though this one had a bittersweet ending. Every year, since 1991, on her birthday Ann Hernandez and her boyfriend would drink a bottle of champagne on an island somewhere off the coast of Massachusetts. Afterward, she would write a little note, tuck it in the bottle and her boyfriend would throw it out to see. The note always said something like "Ann Hernandez is a lighthouse keeper on Thacher Island - Cape Ann Light Station and had a birthday there on [whatever the date was]. Drop her a card at home.’’ The message included her year-round Illinois address.

Neither Ann nor her boyfriend ever really thought anyone would find one of her bottles, but this year someone did. A French couple found the bottle bobbing along the coastline near their small French village and plucked it out of the water. The letter inside was dated 2003. The couple quickly wrote a postcard and sent it off. But the postcard came back undeliverable. Their curiosity about the woman piqued, they contacted the Thatcher Island association to try and find her. The president of the association had sad news. Ann Thatcher had died suddenly at age 61 the year before.

The couple were put in contact with Ann's boyfriend and have slowly begun to form a friendship.

There is something about these stories that touches the soul, but I don't know why exactly. But there's something very compelling about them. As if magic exists, or as if sometimes, wishes do come true.

What do you think?

Cruisin' to the '50s

When I was a kid, after seeing the movie "Stand by Me," I became obsessed with the '50s and listened almost exclusively to '50s music (at the time CBS 101.1 was the channel of "oldies"). Even though that fad faded quickly for me, I still have a soft spot for lots of things '50s. One of my new favorite eateries is Cheeburger, Cheeburger, which not only has great turkey burgers but features a great '50s era Malt Shop ambiance. So when I got an e-mail a few days ago from Carnival Cruises about their latest theme cruise, my attention was immediately caught. The Malt Shop Memories cruise will bring together a group of musicians from the '50s and '60s to entertain passengers for five days.

In partnership with a company called Sixthman and inspired by Time Life's Malt Shop Memories collection, the five-day cruise sails May 13-17, 2010 onboard the Carnival Inspiration, traveling roundtrip from Tampa, Florida and featuring one stop at Cozumel, Mexico. But what makes this sailing so special is the collection of musicians gathered onboard including Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Lesley Gore, The Original Drifters, The Platters and Lou Christie.

In addition to the non-stop music, passengers will get to interact with the musicians and will enjoy other '50s and '60s era activities including sock-hops, beach parties, dance contests and more.

If you want to find out more information about the cruise, including the cost, visit www.MaltShopCruise.com.

Lucky kids!

My husband is European and so a big soccer fan, so of course over the course of our relationship I have also become a soccer fan and would love to attend the World Cup someday. I'd especially love to go to the 2010 World Cup, which will be in South Africa, because then I could see soccer and wild animals and what could be better!

But alas, I can not afford to go and though I keep looking for World Cup contests to enter I have yet to find one. But I did recently find a World Cup related contest that will bring the winner to South Africa before the World Cup for some World Cup-inspired activities. But of course, I don't qualify as its only for kids! How unfair is that?

But since I can't enter, I figured there's no harm in spreading the word about this contest, especially since it is a pretty cool one. It's called the "Diski Dance Video Contest" and to win a youth soccer team will have to demonstrate its Diski soccer skills.

What are Diski soccer skills, I know everyone is asking. South African soccer has developed in a unique way combining traditional soccer skills with a little rhythm and dance. It's called Diski. In the spirit of this style of playing and as part of the World Cup marketing, a special dance was created called teh Diski Dance. It's a lot of fun to watch, and even more fun trying to watch other people trying to learn it.

With this in mind, South Africa Tourism has partnered with World Cup sponsor Coca-Cola, as well as U.S. Youth Soccer, to launch a Web video contest. The contest is a nationwide "dance call" to youth soccer teams to get them to feel the rhythm of South Africa by performing the soccer-inspired Diski Dance.

The competing teams must submit their creative video interpretation of the dance for a chance to win the grand prize of a trip to South Africa for the entire team. South Africa Tourism will transport all 12 players, plus the coach AND one parent for each player, to South Africa during the months leading up to the World Cup. While there the team will get to play an exhibition game against a group of South African youths of similar age -- like I said, pretty cool!

To learn how to do the Diski Dance, and this is for anyone not just the soccer kids, go to www.southafrica.net/dance where you can find tutorials of the five moves that make up the dance. You'll also find the official World Cup 2010 commerical featuring people in all walks of South African life doing the Diski Dance. I LOVE this commerical. The music and the dance never fail to give me a chill of pure happiness when I see it.

And the winner is...

The winner of the September raffle is Theresa. She won a paperback copy of "The Camelot Caper" by Elizabeth Peters and a gift bag of Archipelago Botanicals bath products.

October's raffle will be for a hardcover copy of the new book "Sand Sharks" by Margaret Maron. You can read my review of the book here. To enter, you just need to leave a comment on my blog at some point during the month of October.

Good luck!

A few good travel offers

I thought I'd pass on a few great travel offers that came across my desk recently. If you've got some time left this year and a little money saved up there really are some great travel deals out there right now.

For instance, want to go on a Caribbean cruise? MSC Cruises is offering last minute deals on select Caribbean cruises with prices starting at $249 per person for a five-night cruise from Ft. Lauderdale. The cruises are aboard the line's new ship, the MSC Poesia.

The $249 cruise departs on either Nov. 5 or Nov. 15 and visits Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Georgetown, Grand Cayman, with two days at sea.

The line is also offering special prices on a few 10-night cruises as well. The "Remarkable Rainforests & The Panama Canal" 10-night cruise features pricing starting at only $599. The cruise departs only on Dec. 10. Stops include Grand Cayman, Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Also priced at $599 is the 10-night "Tropical Splendors, European Charm" cruise which visits Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, Barbados, Martinique, St. Maarten and the Bahamas. This cruise also departs on Nov. 30.

One thing that should be noted, these prices do not include the additional fees like government fees and taxes, which could be another hundred or more dollars. To book these cruises you must use a travel agent and you must book and deposit $100 by October 31.

The next offer I came across is more pricey, but in some ways much cooler (at least I think so). It's for a Disney vacation in Orlando -- I know there are more than a few adults out there who think that sounds like fun! For a short time, Disney is offering people a chance to pay for a four-night Walt Disney World Resort package (including room and tickets) but stay for seven nights, OR pay for five nights, stay for seven and get a few extras thrown in like free park tickets.

These offers, called Magic Your Way packages, include accommodations for seven nights and a seven-day Magic Your Way Base ticket, and are available for travel between Nov. 1 - 20, Dec. 10 - 24, and Jan. 3 - March 27, 2010. Bookings must be made by Dec. 20.

As with the MSC Cruises offers, you must book your travel with a travel agent to take advantage of the special pricing.