MAYHEM ON MONDAY

To Agatha with thanks …

Eighty-nine years ago, a woman that few people had ever heard of tried something that was to change the face of recreational reading. The something? A country house mystery called The Mysterious Affair at Styles. The woman? Agatha Christie. The motivation was said to be a challenge by her sister. Although this unknown and unpublished author had her troubles selling this manucript (actually written in 1916), the book survived and was the first of eighty detective novels books to entrall readers around the world. She has been translated into 103 languages as the first clue to that. She is reputed to be the largest selling individual author of all time and that’s not mentioning the popular plays and short stories. And she is the first name that comes to mind for most readers when they think of mysteries. The world was fascinated by Christie and her works. She continues to be the subject of books, articles and much discussion. Her work continues to be made into television drama and movies. We are still talking about her.

Like many people, I read almost everything she ever wrote, surviving even some of the more bizarre later books (no titles mentioned) and returning every few years to the early ones, like a chocolate addict to a box of truffles. I bought the same books more than once, mislead by the fact that the UK titles are not the same as the American version. This year, I’ve reread several books including Murder on the Orient Express and Thirteen for Dinner and read Curtain which closes the circle that introduced Poirot at Styles so many years before. They are still entertaining and readable, still a bit tongue in cheek, and occasionally campy, but in a good way. They take us to a time when the upper crust had time on its hands, life could be spent country house parties, gowns and jewels and fabulous trips, butlers and cooks and parlour maids, ladies’ maids, kitchen maids and upstairs maids, all in little white caps too. Leather luggage and cigarette holders, hats and hunting parties. Really, to die for. In every way. We lapped it up. Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple became household names.

Agatha Christie’s own life was complex, interesting and mysterious. I think in many ways she’s more fascinating than many of her fictional creations. There was the unhappy marriage, the missing weeks when she disappeared and her later meeting in Bagdad and subsequent marriage to the noted archaeologist, Max Mallowan. Mallowan was thirteen years her junior and the exotic trips with him also gave us such titles as Death on the Nile.


Agatha Christie left a legacy of books and also her gracious residence and refuge (Greenway in Devon) which is now a much-visited National Trust property. It was in Greenway that she kept her notebooks, some ninety of them, filed away and forgotten. The discovery of this treasure trove is the subject of Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks: fifty years of mysteries in the making. This book is a joyous examination of the notebooks, by John Curran. To an author it is a fabulous tour, learning something of the infrastructure, the trial and error, the thought processes behind the books, a glimpse at an amazing body of work. It is not only entertaining, but also reassuring to see the questions? The second thoughts and the modifications that underlie well-known stories.

Naturally, I bought the ‘secret notebooks’ in hardcover. Agatha Christie continues to hold my interest and affection. I owe her a lot. So it is with a happy heart that I mention that Agatha Christie will form a part of the plot of a new venture. My daughter, Victoria Maffini, and I will be collaborating on a new book collector’s mystery series. We’ll be writing as Victoria Abbott and we’re tickled that our first book (no title yet) will feature the search for a previously unknown Christie manuscript that seems to have popped up and is tantalizing our fictional collector. Is it real? Is it legal? Is it a scam? You know of course, that we can’t tell you the answer to that, but we can say that we know it will be dangerous!

It was wonderful news to us to learn that indeed there were unpublished short stories found at Greenway during the great notebook excursion. If there were some there, who’s to say there aren’t others? What’s more, with such a well-travelled writer, who’s to say where they might be? We think that the Grande Dame would approve of that part at least. We hope to do justice in our own small way to the Queen of Crime and continue the sense of fun that permeates so much of her own work.

What about you? Is there a Christie story you can’t resist rereading?

Mary Jane Maffini rides herd on three, soon to be three and a half, mystery series. You can check them out at www.maryjanemaffini.com

CRIME ON MY MIND

In Search of a Brand


Boy, has the publishing world ever changed in the last couple of decades! When I first started writing, the publisher did all the publicity, you just showed up for the signings. (This was in my pre-published days, of course.) Now, unless you're Peter Robinson or Gail Bowen or another of our better known Canadian mystery writers, you're on your own.

And so, the business of writing has become the business of writing, branding, promoting and selling one's own books. Look at the successful authors you know -- you may be one of them -- and try to figure out just how much time they spend writing their latest book. That happens in between signings, connecting with your mailing list, talks to book clubs and at libraries, and attending conferences and any event under the sun where a mystery author fits in. Not enough hours in the day, I say.

Way back when, sending out bookmarks or postcards to bookstores was a big marketing venture. Now days, in order to successfully brand oneself, you need a website, Facebook presence along with Twitter, a blog would be nice, and of course, bookmarks and/or postcards. It's not over yet, though. Along with all these things having a presence on the internet under your name, you also should be commenting like crazy on friends' blogs, Facebook postings, and Twitter. And don't forget to follow through on those requests to be a guest blogger. Which means you must also check on the comments it garnishes & comment on those.

Still have some time or better yet, energy? Then track down your local bookstores, go in and say hi. Offer to sign any copies of your book that are on their shelves, suggest doing a signing, maybe even a launch. That's when you're not attending a mystery conference or a Scene of the Crime.

You've gotta love it!

This has exhausted me so I'm asking, what have I missed?

LADIES' KILLING THURSDAYS

Sometimes you have to be there

As my fellow Killing Ladies point out in their previous blogs, the internet is a marvelous thing. I don’t know how we ever did research without it. I have almost blocked out the memory of those endless hours spent pawing through the library card catalogue, trying to guess how your subject would be indexed. Or crouching in the aisles of the musty stacks, flipping through obscure books in search of just the exact fact you needed. Why was the most promising book – the one that seemed to cover precisely the topic you needed – always missing?

Nowadays, almost everything is at our fingertips. Even if the information is not online, the library catalogues are, and the right books can be tracked down without even leaving your living room sofa. The maps of many corners of the world are online and Google Earth can even give you a satellite or street view, almost as if you’re standing on the street corner yourself.

Almost, but not quite. Google Street View can’t give you the sounds of the trucks roaring by, or the bass beat from the restaurant patio across the road, or the smell of stale French fries and baking asphalt on a hot summer day. Street View can’t put you in the place, living it in all its layers and textures, any more than a web article can give you the nuances and personal flair of the personal interview.

So it was that my pursuit of authenticity brought me to Schwartz’ Main Hebrew Deli in Montreal. In my latest Inspector Green book, Beautiful Lie the Dead, Green goes to Montreal to track down a cold case, and of course, Schwartz’ is on his to-do list. While in Montreal, I also visited the Mount Royal Cemetery, Summit Circle in upper Westmount, the police station and old Forum, but Schwartz’ and ‘The Main’ were the settings I needed to experience in all their sensory glory. A picture would not capture the arched brow of the impatient waiter, nor the splatter of grease stains on his apron. It would not capture the laughing chatter of the patrons jostling in a long queue outside, renewing old friendships and making new ones. It would not capture the mingled scents of smoked meat, garlic dills, frying oil and coffee that hit you the instant you stepped in the door. Nor the sweet-salty taste of the meat so soft it falls off your fork.

Not all that detail makes it into the book, of course, lest the reader cast it aside half read and leap on the next bus to Montreal. But it’s the best way to sink into the scene and to truly live it from inside the character’s head. The internet and Google Earth make us mere observers, distant and analytical. They are no substitute for getting out there, talking to people and drinking in the whole scene. And a lot less fun!


Barbara Fradkin is a child psychologist with a fascination for how we turn bad. In addition to her darkly haunting short stories in the Ladies Killing Circle anthologies, she writes the gritty, Ottawa-based Inspector Green vels which have won back to back Athur Ellis Awards for Best Novel from Crime Writers of Canada.

The eighth in the series, Beautiful Lie the Dead, which explores love in all its complications, is in the final proofing stage and is due out in late October 2010.

WICKED WEDNESDAYS

Just Get on With It!

I must say, one unsuspected benefit of writing a blog is that one has to WRITE. Writers do know that you have to keep writing. All the time. No matter what it is. Not only is it a good way to beat that nefarious 'writer's block' but also, it turns the action into a habit. Somewhat like singing. The more you practice, the more your vocal chords retain a muscle memory and it does become easier to produce the end result.

After one of the fabulous Bloody Words conferences in Toronto, Maureen Jennings held a morning-long workshop on writing, based on her book The Map of Your Mind. Maureen led us on many a writing exercise aimed at getting that pen moving. I have to admit, I'm often a bit of a skeptic when it comes to techniques (sorry, Maureen) however, I set pen to paper and just kept writing until time was called. And, I was pleasantly surprised to read what could have been the start of a short story. It was there, hidden until released. I'm finding that's happening now, too when writing my novel. Suddenly, I'm in a scene that just keeps moving forward into the next scene and so on and so on. What a powerful feeling that is!

So, the moral of this story is, write a blog, write a letter, write in a journal. Write utter nonsense. Write that story that's been teasing the back of your brain. Write a letter to the editor. As Susan Goldsmith Wooldrige writes in her wonderfully inspiring book, poemcrazy, "Keep writing. If you focus on your surroundings, the words may just help you be there. but if they want to take you somewhere else, follow them."

Of course, it does help to have your muses.
And, never under-estimate the power of those dangerous writing pals!

So, happy writing, whatever it may be. Just do it. And I will, too. Let's make a pact.

What books do you go to when wanting some inspiration?

TUESDAY BRINGS TROUBLE

Things I Didn't Know About Publishing

When my first book was published all I knew about the book business was what I’d learned from movies and magazines, the main thing being it was very lucrative and glamorous. Turns out that was only if your name was Rowlings or Collins, not Smallman, so there were a few surprises.

The first thing I didn’t know was I had to write the blurb for the book…more than one actually, because sometimes a short version is needed for publicity and then you have to write one for the inside cover of your book that tells the potential purchaser what the book is about. Truthfully, I thought there was a gnome, in a Dickens like room at the publisher’s, who read the book and then wrote the blurb. A couple of months before Margarita Nights was due to come out I got an e-mail asking for the blurb…and they needed it right away, like within twenty four hours. Turns out, I really didn’t know what the book was about and having read lots of other blurbs on books and then read the book, most authors don’t know what their books are about. Nor do they know how to write a good blurb. Where are those gnomes when you need them?

Always a sensible person, I called a friend who knew what the book was about, a friend who talks in shorter sentences than I do. He was cooking dinner and told me to go away. Why is it that my emergencies are never emergencies for my friends? My fourth book will be out next spring and blurb writing hasn’t gotten any easier. This still is the hardest bit of writing I have to do. I think the way to do it well is to treat it like you’re writing a short story. That’s the ideal, but I’ve yet to make it work. And did I mention that you have to write your own biography in the third person so it sounds like the publisher did it?

The next shock is that once you write the book, you have to stop writing and start talking. Writing alone in a dark room turns into entertaining people. Having gone to my share of launches and readings, this didn’t come as a surprise but it was something I had to learn. I went to Toastmasters and discovered a fun hobby. Well, fun except for the fact that they meet at 7:30 in the morning, but the speeches are so interesting I often forgive them.

Now for the biggest stunner. Books are no different from any other product…say chopped beef. You have to sell it. The hard work of promoting takes as long as the writing. Guess which one is more fun? How do you get your book noticed among thousands and thousands of others? And then there is the surprise of the reviews. I haven’t had a horrible review yet, I’m told it will come, but the ones I’ve had have given me a few jolts. Like the one that got the characters mixed up and one that got the place wrong. Sometimes I’ve wondered if the reviewers actually read the book. Some just repeat the dreaded blurb. I must remember to work wonderful and unforgettable into the next blurb.

And there is one other embarrassing thing about being published, something I wasn’t familiar with, jealousy. I hadn’t really experienced this emotion until I wrote a book. It’s petty and nasty and I’m really ashamed of it but still I want my book to make all those lovely lists, want my book up front in the store, want Heather to say it’s the best thing she’s ever read. When I read a book that sells better than mine, and let’s face it most do, and I don’t think it’s as good as mine, I’m green with envy. I shake my hands at the ceiling and demand to know why. It happens a lot, this shaking of fists.

Would I rather not have been published? Are you crazy? It’s the most wonderful, exciting thing that ever happened to me. Even if I had it all wrong, I still like it just fine.



Phyllis Smallman’s debut mystery, MARGARITA NIGHTS, won the first Arthur Ellis Unhanged Arthur in 2007 and was short listed in 2009 for best first novel by the Crime Writer’s of Canada. In July 2010, Good Morning America named the Sherri Travis mysteries as one of the top six series for a summer read.
Other Sherri Travis mysteries are, SEX IN A SIDECAR, A BREWSKI FOR THE OLD MAN and CHAMPAGNE FOR BUZZARDS, due out in 2011.
Phyllis worked in a library and as a potter before turning to a life of crime.

Phyllis Smallman
www.phyllissmallman.com

LADIES' KILLING THURSDAYS

Sometimes you have to be there

As my fellow Killing Ladies point out in their previous blogs, the internet is a marvelous thing. I don’t know how we ever did research without it. I have almost blocked out the memory of those endless hours spent pawing through the library card catalogue, trying to guess how your subject would be indexed. Or crouching in the aisles of the musty stacks, flipping through obscure books in search of just the exact fact you needed. Why was the most promising book – the one that seemed to cover precisely the topic you needed – always missing?

Nowadays, almost everything is at our fingertips. Even if the information is not online, the library catalogues are, and the right books can be tracked down without even leaving your living room sofa. The maps of many corners of the world are online and Google Earth can even give you a satellite or street view, almost as if you’re standing on the street corner yourself.

Almost, but not quite. Google Street View can’t give you the sounds of the trucks roaring by, or the bass beat from the restaurant patio across the road, or the smell of stale French fries and baking asphalt on a hot summer day. Street View can’t put you in the place, living it in all its layers and textures, any more than a web article can give you the nuances and personal flair of the personal interview.

So it was that my pursuit of authenticity brought me to Schwartz’ Main Hebrew Deli in Montreal. In my latest Inspector Green book, Beautiful Lie the Dead, Green goes to Montreal to track down a cold case, and of course, Schwartz’ is on his to-do list. While in Montreal, I also visited the Mount Royal Cemetery, Summit Circle in upper Westmount, the police station and old Forum, but Schwartz’ and ‘The Main’ were the settings I needed to experience in all their sensory glory. A picture would not capture the arched brow of the impatient waiter, nor the splatter of grease stains on his apron. It would not capture the laughing chatter of the patrons jostling in a long queue outside, renewing old friendships and making new ones. It would not capture the mingled scents of smoked meat, garlic dills, frying oil and coffee that hit you the instant you stepped in the door. Nor the sweet-salty taste of the meat so soft it falls off your fork.

Not all that detail makes it into the book, of course, lest the reader cast it aside half read and leap on the next bus to Montreal. But it’s the best way to sink into the scene and to truly live it from inside the character’s head. The internet and Google Earth make us mere observers, distant and analytical. They are no substitute for getting out there, talking to people and drinking in the whole scene. And a lot less fun!


Barbara Fradkin is a child psychologist with a fascination for how we turn bad. In addition to her darkly haunting short stories in the Ladies Killing Circle anthologies, she writes the gritty, Ottawa-based Inspector Green vels which have won back to back Athur Ellis Awards for Best Novel from Crime Writers of Canada.

The eighth in the series, Beautiful Lie the Dead, which explores love in all its complications, is in the final proofing stage and is due out in late October 2010.

MAYHEM ON MONDAY

Mayhem on Monday has been the story of my life. Although in recent years, Mondays still mean mayhem but not in the same hideous way they used be. Nope. Gone are the days when mid-afternoon on Sunday I’d start to obsess about the next morning in all its nightmarish qualities. As a child the worry was undone homework or impending math tests or the need to sit quietly muzzled among the long rows of other kids, wishing to be almost anywhere else — with the exception of the Principal’s Office. Flash forward and school has become work. On Sunday afternoon, the specter loomed of perma-meetings starting at the crack of dawn and grinding inexorably through the day, while the mile high inbox teetered. And of course, there was the unrelenting pressure of locating two shoes from the same pair in the dim early morning. This didn’t always happen successfully, but that’s a story for another day. I haven’t even mentioned the traffic, often compounded by snow!

No matter how much I liked my jobs — the work was very interesting and I had excellent colleagues many of whom are still friends — I could never manage being a morning person. And as for being a Monday morning person: are you kidding? Mayhem doesn’t come close.

Now, if there’s any mayhem on my Mondays, it happens in a good way: cheerful, empowering, fun. The fictional game of creating murder mysteries has many lovely advantages, quite aside from the ongoing game of wits with readers, the fun of playing with characters’ lives and the joy of dreaming up bizarre and dangerous scary experiences for them, not to mention bumping off people.

Here are my top ten reasons to love Mondays now:

· Working in my pajamas
· Drinking endless cups of coffee, made the way I like it
· Having the right – no, make that the obligation – to nap
· Enjoying the advantage of having my dogs cuddled up
· Getting paid for telling lies (oh the thrill!)
· The commute to my kitchen is less than a minute. No snow. Bare feet!
· Being able to bump off anyone who has annoyed me in even the smallest way (Hear that Mr. Big Shot in the Cadillac Escalade? You are toast)
· Reading two papers in the morning and having that count as research (yes, that includes comics and horoscopes because I make the rules)
· Talking out loud to myself and knowing it’s definitely in the job description
· Meeting the nicest people without leaving the house! You know who you are – friends, readers, former colleagues, cozy mystery lovers
· What’s not to love? Hey, my whole week is like that!

And as for you, gentle Monday reader: what’s the best or the worst about your Mondays? Are they filled with mayhem? Or are they marvelous? Don’t hold back.


Mary Jane Maffini is a lapsed librarian, a former mystery bookstore owner and a lifelong lover of mysteries. In addition to the four Charlotte Adams books from Berkley Prime Crime, she is the author of the Camilla MacPhee series, the Fiona Silk adventures and nearly two dozen short stories. She served two terms as President of Crime Writers of Canada. She loves mysteries of all kinds and is enjoying the surge in Canadian crime (writing).

Her latest Charlotte Adams book is Closet Confidential (Berkley Prime Crime, July 2010). She says she’s grateful for all the tips she gets from Charlotte and for the opportunity to write the series. She lives and plots in Ottawa, Ontario, along with her long-suffering husband and two princessy dachshunds. Visit her at www.maryjanemaffini.com

MYSTERY REVIEW

DATE WITH A SHEESHA
by Anthony Bidulka

Globe-trotting gay Private Detective Russell Quant leaves a cold Saskatoon winter's day for the hot glam and glitter of Dubai, on the trail of murderers and carpets. It's quite a mix for our man Quant, who, with textbook in one hand to bone up on antique carpets in order to make some intelligent purchases for the University of Saskatchewan (that's his cover) is actually investigating the death of Neil Gupta.

Hired by Gupta's father, Quant is accompanied by the cousin Hema, who feels she should have been sent in the first place. The family thinks it's a matter of gay-bashing, but as Quant peers into the dark alleys and Souks of this exotic place, he uncovers a tale of carpet lore and hidden personas, that take him to the hot desert sands of Saudi Arabia, and eventually, back to where he started. The truth brings another death, betrayal and more sorrow to the family in mourning.

And, while Quant discovers the depth of his feelings for his lover, he too
ends up facing some disturbing truths. And then there's the car.....

Bidulka has written another gripping mystery, his seventh Russell Quant novel, and takes the reader on an armchair journey to yet another exotic locale. Read it for the travelogue, at the very least...you'll also find a fascinating set of characters, Quant's quick wit, an intelligent mystery, and a thoroughly satisfying read.

CRIME ON MY MIND

Plot Alerts!

Writers are always on the look-out for plots, settings & characters. Even on vacation, it's hard to turn that part of the brain off.

I'm just back from a 2 week trip to Sicily with my choir. You'd think that performing 5 concerts, plus rehearsals and all the excursions (to the Aeolian Islands was breath-taking), of course the shopping trips (one of which included a kiss of the hand by a traffic cop!), the truly wonderful meals even if we ate supper at those crazily late hours, the lack of sleep and just the fun of traveling in a group of 60 who could burst into song at the drop of an olive....that would be more than enough to keep one's mind occupied and away from thoughts of murder and mystery. Not so.

While waiting for the elevator just outside the spa going back up to the lobby, the hall lights would suddenly go out. They're on a timer & you just press the button to brighten things up. But it's totally dark in that cavernous arm and for a few moments, there's a body on the floor.


That spa has a Turkish bath, a sauna, steam room, pool in a dimly lit (romantic or sinister--take your pick) area...all spots ideal for dumping a body. And think of the effect of red blood against those magnificent white ceramic tiled floors and walls. Even at the outdoor pool, tucked in with the various palm trees and other lush plant life, there's a steep drop-off behind the fence, which affords a magnificent view of the village but also an ideal body dump.

How about a not-so-gentle push as someone is leaning over edge of the small touring boat, gazing at the tiny sea creatures clinging to the rocks? All the others are craning to see the amazing rock formations overhead...no one will notice.

Not all thoughts were sinister, I must admit. How could they be? Sicily is an amazing place, an island of beauty with quaint village upon village, marvelous seaside beaches, history at every turn, a pace of living that's addictive, and of course, all that heat & sun. I'd go there again, in a gunshot. And maybe, I could do some serious research and pay for the trip.


Isn't there some place where you'd like to do the same?

And, here's a mea culpa from my last post....I can't believe that I forgot to list my fellow Ladies' Killing Circle cohort & friend Barbara Fradkin's latest Inspector Green novel, Beautiful Lie the Dead, which will be out this fall. Don't miss it!



Linda Wiken

LADIES' KILLING THURSDAYS

RESEARCHING continued.....

Joan Boswell opened our LKC Thursday blog with a discussion on research. As she pointed out, researching leads you in all sorts of directions, and seems like it will never end. When you need some facts to make your story ring true, you must do research. You might have to consult several sources, and sift and weigh the information you have found. In one story, my hero had an object of a certain volume and weight [say no more, say no more] that he needed to transport to a remote location.

I started researching how a person with a load too large to hand-carry could access that particular location. Small planes were the way to go. I read all about the Spruce Goose and the DeHaviland Beaver. I read about how long grass airstrips had to be, and how close the surrounding trees could be, and how tall they could be, before they sheared off the undercarriage of arriving or departing aircraft.

I sussed out how much fuel a small plane could carry, and how far that fuel would take the plane in optimum conditions. I read about pontoons, and how long a lake had to be for a successful landing and subsequent take-off. I learned what kind of weather conditions affect the landing of small planes, and what to do when the pilot needs to make an emergency landing. I read about how one loads cargo of awkward proportions, and how one could transport that cargo away from the plane before it left. It took me six hours to do all this research and arrive at the correct plane.

In my story, this prodigious amount of time spent translated into this:
He climbed into the Cessna.
That’s it. One sentence.

It’s a good thing research is entertaining all by itself.


Vicki Cameron is a member of The Ladies' Killing Circle, short-listed for both the Arthur Ellis Award from Crime Writers of Canada and the Edgar Allan Poe Award from Mystery Writers of America.