Stranger Than Fiction

I'm in several Yahoo groups for all sorts of mystery-related associations and reading groups. All kinds of great information comes through on these lists but every once in awhile members will share some crazy news they've read. I read two items over the past two days that I just felt like I had to share.

One's pretty funny; the other is pretty disturbing.

Shall we start with funny?

This is from The Writer's Forensics Blog (http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/), which is written by D.P. Lyle, MD. For regular readers of my blog, you might remember that Dr. Lyle is the doctor who helped me with the poisoning scenario in my book.

He has a regular category he sometimes posts called Stupid Criminals. In this post, he tells the story of a woman, who at the time of her crime was serving on a jury for a credit card theft case in the Bronx.

During the trial, guess what she did? She stole a credit card from a fellow juror and went on a shopping spree!

Well the credit card noticed the unusual activity and alerted the man from whom the credit card was stolen. He called the police who tracked the activity and found a security camera revealing the woman shopping.

This case hasn't wrapped up yet, because the woman is claiming that the man was hitting on her and gave her his credit card to use. Yeah, right!

Ok, now for the disturbing item.

This originally comes from a Memphis newspaper I think. The body of a woman who has been missing since January was found last week UNDER a MOTEL BED INSIDE a metal frame with a mattress and box spring on top. It appears the body had been there SINCE HER DISAPPEARANCE!

That means her body was inside that bed for almost three months in a hotel room that has been rented out to people since her body was put there!

Her body was eventually found because a fould odor was reported by motel staff. Uh, you think? A body rotting beneath a boxspring and mattress for a few months? I can't believe it took three months to smell that!

According to the police the room has been rented out five times in that three month period and been cleaned "numerous" times as well.

And nobody smelled anything wrong? Noone sleeping on top of a rotting corpse sensed anything amiss? Their nose never wrinkled at a putrid scent rising from beneath them?

It just grosses me out thinking about it.

To make the whole thing just a little bit weirder, or maybe more pathetic, the police knew that the missing women had been living at the hotel and that she'd been staying in that room. While they went to the motel and spoke with some staff members, they never went inside the room to investigate!

OK, maybe I've seen one too many CSI episodes, but that just seems plain remiss.

Anyway, after reading this, I'm thinking maybe I need to start lifting up the boxspring and mattress on hotel beds before I snuggle in for the night. I don't EVER want to find out afterwards that I was sleeping on a corpse!!

Book Review: Get Out or Die

First of all this is not really your normal book review, but more an exploration of my reactions to this book. I will say I liked the book; it kept me interested though I figured out who the "killer" was on about page 100 or so (its a 348 page book).

I'll give you a brief summary. Aurelia Marcella is a Roman citizen living in Roman Britain in 91 A.D. She is an innkeeper. At the start of the book two Romans are found with their heads cut off, having been brutally beaten, with a tablet pinned to their clothes that says "Get Out or Die." These are the first in a string of brutal murders. When one of the targeted victims is found on her inn's doorsteps, having survived the attack on him, Aurelia takes him in and inadvertently gets involved. As it turns out, there is a rebellion brewing. A group of native Britains want to take their country back from the conquering Romans and they're using scare tactics, including almost daily murders, to do it. The leader of the rebellion is someone she knows, but she must figure out who before she becomes the next victim.

Aurelia is an engaging character and its definitely interesting getting a glimpse at life in the early days of Roman Britain. The identity of the leader was fairly obvious early on, but I enjoyed finding proof throughout the novel that I was right.

But what I found particularly interesting while reading this book was my reactions to it. For most of the book, I was rooting for the rebellion. Of course I didn't want Aurelia or her family and friends to be killed, because I did like them, I wanted the rebels to get their land back. At least half the population in this fictional world were British slaves to Romans who had moved in to the area less than 20 years prior to the time the novel was set. There were also free Britains and even a few who had been granted Roman citizienship, but most were slaves.

Almost all of the people who worked at Aurelia's inn were slaves. The author of the novel, Jane Finnis, does not spend any time exploring the lives of these characters. From what I could tell they lived fairly free-ish lives but based on what I read in this book I have no idea if they had their own families, if they were allowed to marry, what kind of living conditions they were given, etc.

But it almost doesn't matter. They were slaves. One minute they were free people, the next the Romans showed up, "captured" them and sold them as slaves. And throughout the books, that's simply taken as a given, as the way the world is. Even Aurelia doesn't question it or care, that's just not part of her character.

Well, it's part of mine. I object fiercely to the idea of slavery and the idea of conquerering. And I want to see the slavers and the conquerers defeated. And in the case of this book, that's the Romans, which includes Aurelia.

So, on the one hand I don't want Aurelia to be killed but on the other I want the rebels to win.

To a certain extend I think Finnis deals with this by giving a slight twist to who the leader of the rebellion is and what that person's motivations are. He's not really looking out for the best interest of the rebels, just using their unhappiness and hatred to his advantage. So of course in the end I do want him to be caught and punished.

But I was definitely not happy that the rebellion was simply broken and that the Romans get to continue their life just as before. Even Aurelia doesn't "learn" anything from her experience with the rebels.

I think its important to note that I read this book shortly after seeing the movie "Avatar," which is about people from Earth invading a planet that has mineral resources that Earth wants/needs. Because the Earth people don't understand the natives, they treat them as "less than human," as vermin who need to be exterminated. Of course there are a few exceptions -- i.e. the scientists who are trying to act as a go between while learning about the planet and the people. But in the end, the way the soldiers want to do it (wipe 'em all out) is the way the mining expedition goes and hundreds of the native people's are killed. In this movie, Earth people are the enemy and the natives are the good guys -- it's a classis nature versus industrial industry story (other examples: Star Wars, Lord of the Rings).

Also, I think its important that I'm American, and the author of this novel is British. American comes from a rebellion, and we have slavery in our past -- something most of us (the better part of us) have been taught is most definitely wrong in every way. As Americans I've always felt we have a tendency to root for the underdog (although as a society we've become invaders now), so its unsurprising that I'd root for the underdog rebels in "Get Out or Die."

It was an interesting experience reading a book during which I was simultaneously rooting for both the protagonist and the rebellion (though not the main antagonist).

I'm curious what kind of reactions people from outside of the U.S. have to this book, other British people especially since it was most likely written with them in mind. I'm curious to know if other Americans had similar reactions to me.

Anybody else out there ever read this book? What did you think?

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.

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!

I see clues everywhere...

I was reading a book the other day and I read a passage where the protagonist and a friend went to the apartment of a potential suspect to ask some questions. Early in the scene, the author says that the elevator seemed to be stuck on a specific floor, so the two characters had to take the stairs.

Aha! I said to myself. Something is going to happen on the elevator, or maybe the suspect is already dead on the elevator.

As it turned out the elevator had little to do with anything, and was never mentioned again. I realized, that I've started seeing clues everywhere I look when reading a mystery novel. Because, as a writer of mysteries, I'm acutely aware of the fact that most everything I put in a book is there for a reason.

If I mention an object, chances are there's a good reason for mentioning the object. But the reason is not always going to be "clue." I may mention something to describe a situation and create a mood or feeling. I may use an object (like an elevator) to speed up or delay action -- in the case of the scene I read the author needed the characters to take longer to get to the apartment.

And of course, there are the red herrings, when I purposely mention something or someone to make it seem like it's related to the mystery in order to misdirect the reader's attention. I suppose every time I read something and immediately expect it to be a clue, and then it turns out not to be, I can tell myself the author meant it as a red herring. But I'd be lying to myself.

And then sometimes an object mentioned, is just that. An object. Maybe used to describe a room a character is in. Maybe to show what kind of "things" the main character likes, as a way of painting a picture of the character.

But I forget all about those "other" reasons for mentioning objects or people when I'm reading and I automatically assume everything mentioned is important and means something.

And it's frustrating. I can't simply sit back and read a mystery and relax and enjoy the book the way I used to before I started writing. Instead I'm constantly alert, looking for clues that aren't there. Making up scenarios that don't happen.

I'm curious if this happens to other mystery writers when they read? Are they able to turn off the writer part of the brain when reading? Or do they also see ghosts, er clues, everywhere they look?

Pet peeve

Just a short post today to express my frustration with mystery writers who give away the endings of previous books in their latest series book. It is not always possible to read a series in order. Very often a reader is introduced to a series by picking up a book that either comes someplace in the middle of the series or is the most recently published book in the series. If the reader enjoys the book, the characters and the author's way of writing, most likely she or he will decided to read the earlier books in the series.

BUT! But if the author has already told the reader how the previous book(s) ended, what's the point in picking up the book? The whole point of reading a mystery is to try and figure out whodunit? So if I already know, what's the point in reading the book?

For instance, I'm reading a book called A Charmed Death by Madelyn Alt. It's the fourth book in the Bewitching Mystery series. I didn't realize it was the fourth book when I bought it, only when I picked it up to actually start reading. I figured I'd read it and if I liked it I'd buy or borrow the earlier ones. Then in the middle of the first chapter the author suddenly tells me who died in the last book (the third in the series) and who the killer turned out to be.

I was immediately turned off. There is almost no point in reading the third book now. Maybe, and that's a big MAYBE, I'll go back and read books one and two, but no matter what the author lost me as a reader, and potential buyer, of the third book.

As an aspiring writer, I hope that everything I do as a writer will be to get readers to read each and every one of my books. I don't want to chase anyone away from even a single book. That's seems completely counter-intuitive to the goal of writing books.

Now, I realize there are some things that will be given away in new books. For instance, romances. If in book three the main character gets married, then clearly if I start reading book two and that character is having romance problems, I already know how that's going to end. But that's a subplot and that's ok. I still have the juicy mystery to try to work out.

But don't give the whodunit away, please. Chances are I'll want to read earlier books, but not if I know who the killer is.

An amazing resource for writers!

Since I've become more serious about writing I've found many, many helpful resources, from Web sites chock full of writing information; listservs where I can pick the brains of established writers; blogs written by published writers about their experiences; lists of books to read -- I could go on. But as of right now my favorite resource is a single person, a doctor named D.P. Lyle, M.D.

Dr. Lyle is a practicing cardiologist in California and a Edgar Award-nominated author who has written five non-fiction books, among them Murder and Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers, Forensics and Fiction and Forensics for Dummies, as well as two mystery novels.

In addition to his writing Dr. Lyle has consulted on TV shows like Law and Order, CSI: Miami, Monk, House, Judging Amy, Medium, the list goes on.

But even more amazing, Dr. Lyle accepts medical questions from writers who need help with a medical plot point. He has helped dozens and dozens of published authors get the medical pieces of their novels just right. Among the many authors who have publicly acknowledged his help are Hallie Ephron, Harlan Coben, Judy Clemens and Charlaine Harris.

So when I first thought about asking Dr. Lyle for help, I was a bit intimidated. I'm a nobody. I've never published a book. I don't currently have the skill of Hallie Ephron or Charlaine Harris; I'm not sure I ever will.

So first I decided I'd try to find out what I needed to know on my own. I need a character of mine to die of what appears to be a heart attack but is actually poisoning. I looked up poisons, did a google search on "deaths that look like heart attacks" and compiled a small list of poisons that could all do the job.

From there I tried to find out more about each poison, but let me tell you it's not easy finding specific information about how to poison someone on the Internet! (I'm not complaining really, I think that's a good thing.) However, I found enough information to determine that digitalis was going to be my murderer's poison of choice. I then wrote the scene in which the character is poisoned and dies. It wasn't a bad scene, but since I didn't really know too much about the characteristics of digitalis I wasn't sure it was actually medically accurate.

At that point I knew I needed help. Should I? Shouldn't I? Would Dr. Lyle respond to an unknown author? Finally, I decided what the heck. What was the worst that could happen? If he didn't respond, I was no worse off than before, but if he did respond... my book would be all the better for it.

And boy did Dr. Lyle respond. The day after I sent my question to him (he has a very strict format for submitting a question) I got an e-mail response with loads of information about digitalis, how my scenario wouldn't actually work, and what type of scenario could work. When I had a follow-up question he answered that too.

I now have to change that scene entirely but am happy to do so, knowing that my book will be accurate, and therefore more believable. I am incredibly grateful to Dr. Lyle for his generosity in lending his expertise to authors (particularly this author) in need.

When I asked him why he did it he told me, "It's actually very simple---knowledge means little unless it's shared. I look at everything as either a learning or a teaching experience and always have."

To find out more about Dr. Lyle, to find information about forensics for writers, to learn where to buy his books, visit Dr. Lyle's Web site, The Lab (www.dplylemd.com). He also writes a blog covering medical and forensics issues, including discussing famous real-life cases. You can visit The Writer's Forensics Blog at http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/

Some of my favorite mystery authors/series - Part II

Continuing on with my list of favorite mystery authors and series, and staying with the theme of animals (if you haven't guessed, a lot of cozies feature animals in a big way), my next favorite is:

Blaize Clement: the Dixie Hemingway series
Blaize Clement writes about ex-policewoman Dixie Hemingway who is learning to rebuild her life after the tragic loss of her husband and daughter. Set in Siesta Key, Florida, Dixie has taken a job as a pet sitter and unfortunately her clients have a nasty habit of dying under very suspicious circumstances.

Though primarily cozy in nature, the Dixie Hemingway books (at this point there are only four) are harder than my other favorites. There is more violence and more of a sense of menace. Furthermore, Dixie goes out of her way to avoid trouble. At every opportunity she tries to go in the opposite direction, only to find she's gone exactly where she needs to be to solve whatever murder she's happened upon.

Part of the satisfaction for me in reading these books is being able to watch Dixie come back to life, partly through her relationships with the animals she cares for and their owners. The mysteries almost take a backseat to that.

So, in spite of their fanciful titles - "Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter," "Duplicity Dogged the Dachsund," "Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues" and "Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof" - the Dixie Hemingway books are not a light-hearted fun read, but instead offer solid mysteries with more than a touch of the darkness our world offers. But as Dixie learns to live despite the darkness, so too, do those of us who follow her journey. Not a beach read, but certainly an author to try if you don't want too much fluff in your mysteries.

Nancy Atherton: The Aunt Dimity series
OK, leaving the animals behind and moving on to something completely different. And I do mean completely different. Atherton's books are unlike any other mysteries I've ever come across. First of all, not a single one of her books has a murder in it, a real rarity for mysteries today I think. Even the very first book, "Aunt Dimity's Death" has no murder in it. But the mystery is compelling nonetheless.

The second big difference - the main character Lori Shepherd, is helped throughout her misadventures by Aunt Dimity, her mother's best friend who Lori never knew existed until Dimity dies and leaves a small fortune to Lori as well as a small blue notebook through which Dimity continues to communicate.

Lori is a fun character to follow as she has a habit of sticking her nose in where it doesn't belong, particularly if there's a handsome man involved (and there always is!). And she gets into the weirdest situations. Only Lori would set off in the morning for a walk through the woods on a sunny day and end up being trapped by an early blizzard at decripit old estate where something weird is going on. Only Lori would agree to help a friend catalog an old book collection and wind up in the middle of a mystery that goes back 100 years. Seriously, every book is totally different than the others.

But the think I like most (other than the fun stories and likeable characters) is that at the end of almost every Aunt Dimity book, I want to be a better person. There's just something about the stories Nancy Atherton writes that highlights the best in people and inspires me to want to be kinder, more considerate, more involved - just overall better!

I'm not sure all the Aunt Dimity books are for everyone, but I highly recommend everyone give "Aunt Dimity's Death," "Aunt Dimity's Christmas" and "Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin" a read. If you like them, you can give the others a try.

Some of my favorite mystery authors/series - Part I

In spite of the fact that I'm slowly writing a mystery novel, I am actually rather new to the mystery genre, having been a die-hard fan of sci-fi and fantasy for most of my life. But in randomly picking up a few mysteries over time I discovered I really like the mystery sub-genre known as the "cozy" and have found a few authors I can say with confidence are among my favorite mystery authors.

None of my favorites are authors who make it on to the New York Times bestseller. None have window displays in big Barnes & Noble dedicated to their books. One, unfortunately, even had her publisher drop her. But none of that matters to me. These are the authors who helped me fall in love with cozy mysteries and these are authors I'd recommend without qualm to anyone interested in giving light mysteries a try.

Lilian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who... series
There are 29 books in Lilian Jackson Braun's series about a retired newspaper journalist named James Qwilleran (called Qwill for short) and his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum-Yum. The books are all light reading and fun.

In every book some type of crime (usually murder, and often more than one) occurs and Qwill gets involved in solving it through the use of his intellect, his ability to get others to confide in him and the near-psychic powers of his overly large mustache and KoKo's somewhat psychic personality quirks.

The latter books are not as well-written as the rest but considering they were written when Braun was in her late 80s/early 90s its not surprising that the latter books aren't her best. But the first 25 or so books are such a pleasure to read! The next time you need a fun beach read or something to keep you entertained on a flight, definitely think about picking up a Cat Who book.

Laurien Berenson: Melanie Travis series
The first Laurien Berenson book I read was "Once Bitten," the eighth book in the Melanie Travis mystery series (15 books total) and I liked it so much I immediately went online to get a list of the books in the series and then hit my local library to see what they had.

The books all follow the life and adventures of Melanie Travis, a single mom, who shows pedigree poodles in her spare time. The first several books all feature the dog showing world as the backdrop -- think of the movie Best In Show and throw in a series of murders and you can kind of get an idea of what Melanie's world is like.

Melanie is always a reluctant detective, most often getting strong-armed into investigating theft, murder and mayhem by her overbearing aunt Meg. But she's so good at figuring out who the bad guy is, even if it lands her in a bit of hot water quite often.

Although in reality, Melanie's problems are not mine, I always related to what she was going through and always cared about everything that happened to her, her son, her two poodles, her fiesty aunt, delinquent brother and all the fun characters who inhabit the dog showing world.

Like most cozies, the Melanie Travis books are light reads and a lot of fun. I honestly feel like I know Melanie and the other characters in her books. I even went to a dog show once hoping I'd see a glimpse of what Berenson describes so wonderfully.

Unfortunately, Berenson's publisher has decided the series no longer has any legs, so unless another publisher picks it up, I will have to accept I will never find out what other entertaining adventures Melanie embarks on. But don't let that stop you from giving the series a try. If you like light-hearted whodunits and dogs, these books are a real treat.

Women keep book publishing alive

A new study by Bowker, the company that prints Books In Print, has released a new study that it calls the “first complete consumer-based research report.” The report provides a breakdown of who is buying what and how.

Though the full report costs way too much for this unemployed writer to purchase, the company did release a few takeaways, which I found very interesting.

For example, 57% of book buyers are women, plus they purchase 65% of the books sold in the U.S. So women are certainly at the forefront of keeping book publishing alive. Thank you ladies!!

Women are also more traditional when it comes to book buying, as they make the majority of paperback, hardcover and audio-book purchases. Men, on the other hand, account for 55% of e-book purchases. Again, I have to tip my hat to the ladies because I, myself, don't like the e-book trend (my personal opinion!). I prefer a real (i.e. physical) book in my hand. I like the feel of turning the page and dog earing my spot. There's something very personal aboout a real book. An e-book on the other hand seems so sterile to me. I know I can't fight “progress” but I certainly hope physical books don't disappear any time soon.

Another statistic I liked – mystery books are the most popular genre for book club sales, with 17% of all mystery book purchases coming directly through book clubs. As an aspiring mystery writer, I am very happy to hear mysteries are still very popular.

Other takeaways from the report:

Generation X consumers buy more books online than any other demographic group, with 30% of Gen Xers buying books through the Internet.

21% of book buyers said they became aware of a book through some sort of online promotion or ad.