Yesterday I attended the annual Metropolitan Library’s Lit Fest. It is held in Oklahoma City at the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library. I had not been to this beautiful facility, and I had so much fun. I traveled with a friend from the Enid library and ran into authors from all over the state. Some I knew, some I got to know.
I was with the Sisters in Crime Tornado Alley author group that I recently joined. We spoke about mystery writing on an author panel and it was possible it snowed in that auditorium. We were freezing to death! And it was 108 degrees outside.
There may or may not have been some shoe shopping on the way home from Oklahoma City. It was a fun day.
The library is four stories and is a beautiful modern building. I looked over the balcony at the dizzying heights and took a picture.
There was a sandwich shop in the library and participants had access to bagels, cookies and many pots of coffee. We were welcomed and showed off our wares to the public. I only had time for one presentation, but it was a good one. There were many speakers throughout the day.
I highly recommend attending this festival next year if you have not. It is free to the public, authors are selling their books, software companies are showing you the latest and greatest in software to assist you with your writing, speakers are teaching you things you need to know, and mostly you will have a great time.
Thank you Metropolitan Library’s Lit Fest for making us all feel so welcome. I’ll see you again next year.
Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc. is offering 7 free writing workshops, one per month, throughout the year starting in September. They are through Zoom and geared toward 9-12th grade but any age is welcome. You will need to sign up for them at this link OWFI’s Writing Workshops — Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc. (OWFI)
There will be 7 workshops with 7 different instructors and 7 different subject matters (lucky No 7!) If you or anyone you know is interested, give them this information. We will be putting this out to the schools and libraries as well.
Just because you aren’t a kid anymore, doesn’t mean you can’t learn! When you sign up, you will receive emails reminding you of the workshop and giving you a Zoom link. Join us and encourage someone under the age of 18 to come too. We want to encourage a whole new generation of writers.
Amazon has put my murder mystery, Blooming Greed, on sale for $3.51 in Kindle or paperback version. It is a great time to pick up a copy!
Erim Shipley is a young lawyer with a nose for mystery. In Blooming Justice, she was just blooming into that role as a college student and a protégé to her aunt. Now she’s back in the next mystery once again set on Keystone Lake. Blooming Greed is the second in the Keystone Lake series.
Erin Shipley grew up on Keystone Lake before moving to Tulsa and becoming an associate attorney. Now, she’s back, representing a client who is concerned about the flooding and property values around the lake. Properties underwater are being bought and sold for pennies on the dollar by someone called T & H Realty. When her friend’s uncle, Jeff, dies mysteriously on the lake, Erin wonders if it has anything to do with the real estate scam and launches an investigation. The dam is old and zebra mussels are clogging it, not allowing enough water to flow out. If the dam breaks, it will flood downtown Tulsa and areas around it. But that’s not the only danger…whoever killed Jeff isn’t finished with their diabolical plan, and Erin and those she loves are at risk from more than just a dam break.
Will the aging dam break from the tremendous rains of the season? Will Erin find out who killed Uncle Jeff before he strikes again? Her lake is in danger and so are all the people who live around it. Grab a copy while it’s on sale and leave a review. I think you will like it.
Last fall, I introduced you to the members in my writing club. Most of them agreed to an interview at that time. But Cathy Thomas is BUSY!!! She teaches band at a local school and finally with summer break she had time to answer my questions.
Cathy Thomas is a member of the Enid Writers Club. Her piece in our anthology, Prose Colored Glasses, Amazon.com : prose colored glasses book enid writers club is wonderful reading. Check it out. But first, here’s a little bit about Cathy, the person.
1. What drives you to write?I got tired of holding conversations with myself in my head, so I decided to write them down as characters in a story. Additionally, I’ve been writing since I was in high school. I wrote a column for our weekly county paper in Pennsylvania about our local high school happenings. Every morning at school I was the student who read the announcements over the loudspeaker, and so I pretty much know what was going on at the school. That was when I got hooked on writing. I also found that I write the way I think I talk.
2. What genre do you write, and why?That’s a tough one. I write all kinds of things. My consistent writing is non-fiction magazine, technical writing, and newsletter articles. I have a monthly byline in a local magazine, and for the last couple of months have been the writer and editor of a weekly newsletter for a summer reading camp. I write about gardening, so I do lots of research. I like learning new information about subjects that I like – such as gardening, biology, ecology and sciences in general.
3. Do you prefer fiction or nonfiction?For reading I prefer fiction, usually political murder mystery, cozy mysteries, or sci-fi – but not fantasy. I don’t care for unicorns, elves or vampires. I also like a good novel with no mystery. One of my favorite series was the novels by Jean Auel – Clan of the Cave Bear and others. Recently, I really enjoyed reading the historical novels about the pack mule librarians of Kentucky. For writing I like the thrill of sci-fi – using viruses, or historical settings, some time travel, or just plain novels of everyday historical life in America- usually the northeast, where I’m from. (ugh, terrible grammar)
4. What’s your writing schedule?Do you write every day?I don’t write every day. I SHOULD write every day, but I don’t. Writing is still a whimsy for me, even writing my articles. If I have to schedule it, I would say my schedule is “Oh shoot! I have an article due tomorrow!” schedule, so at least twice a month. Knowing that I have articles due or that I am working on “the next great chapter” I spend more time doing research and editing than I do writing.
5. What is your favorite song and why?Unfair question. I’m a music teacher and so that is a loaded one, for me. I prefer listening to classical music – whether orchestral or classical guitar or Gregorian chant, I like most music. More contemporary songs I’d say I have 2 favorite. I am a very spiritual person, with great faith. Not necessarily religious, although I do attend a church fairly regularly. “Precious Lord” is a favorite hymn as it reminds me that I’m not always in control, but at the same time, I am never totally alone. My other favorite is “Longer Than” by Dan Fogelberg. Not only is it romantic, which I am a hopeless romantic, but it also shows that love is timeless. It is not necessarily romantic love but can also be the love of a parent for a child. I used to sing these to both my girls when they were little and occasionally they still ask me to sing to them.
6. If you could hang out with any literary character from any book penned at any timeline,who would it be, why, and what would you do together?Ayla from the Clan of the Cavebear series. She was such a strong character and quick to learn. She was a creative problem solver. She had a knack of seeing both striking and subtle beauty. I love that even when situations were difficult, she always had time to help and heal others. She made it through difficult times in her life and came out stronger for it. One of her talents in the stories was weaving baskets. I would like to sit and make reed baskets and just listen to her stories.
Cathy Thomas is a classical musician who plays the bassoon, teaches band and fine art at a local high school. She has been writing for newspapers, magazines and children’s books since high school. Writing is still more a hobby than an income as she enjoys writing to educate and entertain her readers. Along with music and art, Cathy is a third-generation puppeteer. Her grandfather was a part of the WPA as a schoolteacher and was charged with keeping puppetry alive as a form of public theatre. This historical antecedent is why one of her favorite genres to write is historical fiction. She loves doing research into different historical periods of time in American history. Cathy’s attitude of feet on the ground and head in the clouds developed growing up as the youngest of three girls of a college art professor father and home economics teacher mother. Creativity, education, individuality and happiness are core values taught to her from a young age which have spanned her life.
This week I wanted to let you know about an upcoming podcast interview on Rendezvous With a Writer that will take place this Thursday evening. I met Bobbi Jean and Jim Bell a few years ago when I was interviewed on The Writers Block, part of LA Talk RadioRendezvous With A Writer | LA Talk Radio. Jim Christina, the host, made me feel so welcome and invited me back. So I took him up on his offer. Since Jim’s passing, Bobbi Jean and Jim have taken over the online radio show/podcast that is now also available on video https://www.facebook.com/WritersOutWest/
Now, I love coming back and talking with the hosts and sometimes bringing someone with me. This Thursday, I will be guest hosting on the podcast with the Rev. Dr. John Toles, Amazon.com: John F Toles: books, biography, latest update author of The Father Savel mysteries. John has some wonderful characters in his books and I love interacting with them. His mysteries keep you guessing until the end. He is a member of my writing club and I have enjoyed his friendship as well as his writing.
Be sure to join us on Rendezvous With a Writer Thursday night at 8:00 CST. You can listen in on the LA Talk Radio site or watch us on Facebook at the link above. We’d love to have you join us. John and his characters are a lot of fun, and so are Bobbi Jean and Jim.
Last week we talked about clues in mystery writing. This week we will talk about evidence. It is the facts or information indicating whether a belief is true or valid. We think we know who the murderer is, but how did we come to that conclusion.
Evidence
Evidence and logic go hand in hand. These are the facts or pieces of information that can prove a proposition. In the world of crime, evidence comprises facts and physical details that can be used in court. Evidence can be examined, hearsay can’t.
In the realm of the mystery writer, evidence is part of the physical clues the detective can use to determine the killer.
In the modern world of forensic science, evidence can be scientific and very detailed. Before using physical evidence as clues, you’ll need to do research to understand how evidence is observed, collected, and used.
If you use evidence as clues in your mystery, be sure to get the science details right. You will lose readers if you guess.
Evidence in mystery movies or novels can include:
Discovery and elimination of suspects (in which creating false suspects is often part of the killer’s plan)
Evaluation of clues (sifting the true from the untrue)
Identification and apprehension of the killer.
Physical clues: objects or material traces, usually found at the crime scene or among the suspects’ possessions.
Biological clues: organic traces left behind.
Sherlock Holmes never met a piece of evidence he didn’t love. He placed them in order and examined them carefully. Your reader will do the same. Many readers of mystery read them to try to outwit the detective. “I knew it was him!” So don’t disappoint them.
Evidence gives us something to prove that the belief is true. Examine your evidence and be sure not to disappoint your readership.
I write mysteries and suspense novels. And I’ve spoken on the idea of how to structure them. I thought we might talk about structuring mysteries/suspense novels on this blog over the next few weeks. I did a little research and found a few things that I thought were helpful. To draft a good story, you must surprise and keep your readership. Mystery/suspense is the perfect place.
Here are some ideas for structuring your story:
Keep your reader guessing:
When you write a mystery, you set up a trail for the detective to follow until they discover the killer. The process is similar no matter what sub-genre you write—traditional mystery, cozy, crime, police procedural, private investigator, etc. That trail leads your readers into the mystery and keeps them turning pages.
Along the trail, your detective protagonist discovers clues that eventually lead him, and the reader, to the perpetrator. As a writer, your job is to plant these clues successfully.
Clues
In order to do so, it’s important to understand the difference between clues, evidence, and red herrings. Today we’ll talk about clues. You’ll be tucking these items in among the scenes in your storyline. Sometimes you want them to be evident to the detective and other times you want to hide them from your protagonist. Understanding what they are and how they work helps you construct a tight story that keeps readers guessing.
In a mystery story, a clue is anything that points the detective to the killer.
Clue is a variant of the Late Middle English clew, a ball of thread. If you remember your Greek mythology, such things can be very handy when guiding people out of labyrinths – much as a detective unravels a mystery to solve a crime.
As a writer constructing your story, you have endless possibilities to plant and hide clues along your storyline. As you outline your plot, brainstorm ideas for what clues will lead your detective toward solving the puzzle.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
Physical items the victim left behind – letters, notes, notebooks, a keepsake, tickets, ticket stubs, emails, text messages, etc.
Dialogue with suspects – voicemail recordings, conversations with the detective, overheard conversations, dialogue with the detective’s opponent or love interest. Even hearsay and gossip can hide grains of truth that are clues.
Background – cultural paradigms in the victim’s world that make sense within that world. When a victim is part of a specialized world, your detective may need to know about the world in order for pieces to make sense. It could be anything from the gambling underworld to flower shows, or dog breeding, or deep-water diving, or spiritual cults, or… you get the idea.
Clues are anything the detective learns that point him toward resolving the mystery.
In the next few weeks, we’ll talk about evidence and red herrings, how to use them and where to place them in your story to keep your readership turning the page.
Join me next week for evidence. What are you reading/writing this week?
I normally use an appliance until I’ve wrung the very last drop of energy out of it. A classic example is the wall oven that was in my house when I moved in 27 years ago. It is large, self-cleaning, and has served me well. However, in the last couple of years it hasn’t been reliable. The chicken strips didn’t get done in the time the package said, the cake fell in the middle and was burned around the edges even though I cooked it longer at a lower temperature than called for, the pies I made for the holidays were runny in the middle, etc. My final failure was the cornbread that was gooey in the middle and burned on top even though I adjusted the temperature and time. The poor thing is tired and I don’t know how old it is. But it has dials instead of being digital if that helps you understand. The self-cleaning feature seems to work when it feels like it, too.
Then there is the dishwasher. I am tired of washing my dishes by hand, putting them in the dishwasher, and then washing them again when they come out. Especially the silverware. I’ve cleaned it multiple times and it helped for a while, but it still doesn’t get the dishes as clean as I’d like. It has push buttons on the outside that are cracked and the white plastic door has become yellow. While not as old as the oven, only 20 years old, it has been a workhorse and now it is tired.
I went to the local big box store and looked at so many ovens and dishwashers, my head swam. I went home and did the same online reading reviews of brands and models. Then I went to the local mom and pop appliance store. They had a lot of the same things. They told me they were in a buying group and normally there would be sales around the 4th of July. So I went home to my limping appliances and tried to make them work.
This week, I ordered a new dishwasher and wall oven at the same time! They will arrive in about a week. I ran back and forth several times to the store and had the installation guy come to the house to be sure the wall oven would fit. Finally, I ordered them both after settling on the best buy for the money. I am looking forward to the installation. It might be 2 weeks before this is done, but I cook and clean daily and need my appliances. These two will probably outlive me. That’s fine. The kids can sell them with the house when I’m gone.
I’ve been in touch with Gabriella Saenz this week about the artwork for our upcoming graphic novel, Flatiron Death Grip. This woman is SO talented! I am always amazed at her work. She has finished sketching all the characters and will begin working on the panels for the graphic novel. In the meantime, you can pick up a copy of the original novel, with her illustrations on the inside, from Amazon at Flatiron Death Grip: Chambers, Peggy, Saenz, Gabriella: 9781953589101: Amazon.com: Books where it is currently on sale for $6.10 in paperback.
I wanted to show you some of her sketches. She is such a perfectionist. I emailed her a copy of the novel, the graphic novel script, the 4 short stories that originally created the main characters, characterizations, etc. I probably overwhelmed her. But since I didn’t know what I was doing with an artist, I went for overkill. This was originally her idea to make this a graphic novel and I was blown away with the offer.
At a craft show lately I ran into a woman who picked up the novel, Flatiron Death Grip, and opened it. “Oh, I hoped it was a graphic novel,” she said. And I said, “Soon!” So, Gabs was right. It needed to be a graphic novel.
I’ll keep you informed as to progress. But here are a few more sketches.
It’s Father’s Day and I wanted to pay tribute to all the fathers that have been in my life.
I barely remember my paternal grandfather because he died when I was young though he outlived two wives. We called him Papa and he told me there were bugs in my oatmeal at breakfast. He was just teasing, but I refused to eat breakfast that day. He was a farmer and raised five children during The Great Depression. My father was the youngest.
My maternal grandfather was also a farmer and big hunter and fisherman with a deep baritone voice that could be heard all over the tiny church where he attended. He also raised a family during The Great Depression and here were eight of them, my mother one of the oldest.
I come from a long line of farmers as my father-in-law farmed for a while and then moved to town. They only had two children, and neither of them got into farming. Both went to college.
My father also stayed away from farming and went into the Air Force during WWII and became an aircraft mechanic. He spent his life raising three children and fishing as often as possible.
My husband and his brother both went into radio and raised two children each. Later my husband changed professions and worked in Aircraft Maintenance to take care of his family and hunted when he could. He loved the great outdoors but didn’t work in that field.
My husband and I raised two children, and our son became an immediate father to two children when he married their mother. He is an avid fisherman, and motorcyle enthusiast, but spends his days in front of a computer, though he, too, loves the outdoors.
All of these men worked hard all their lives, raised their children, and played when they were given a chance—if they weren’t too tired after the day’s work. Men like them are what make the world go ‘round. They work hard, play hard, and enjoy their families.
Life is a patchwork of moments — laughter, solitude, everyday joys, and quiet aches. Through scribbled stories, I explore travels both far and inward, from sunrise over unfamiliar streets to the comfort of home. This is life as I see it, captured in ink and memory. Stick around; let's wander together.
Peggy Chambers "Views from the Hammock" site 