Do Cliches Interrupt Your Reading?

    Seem to be getting pickier in my old age. Start reading a book because the characters intrigued me. Or, the plot line caught my interest. But had trouble getting beyond page 100 because of the cliches became tedious.

   Result: my "trade pile" was growing faster than my read pages. Newer books by some of my favorite authors got tossed as well at new-to-me ones. Victoria Thompson's Murder at Murray Hill almost landed on the pile without me finishing it because it was just too cozy and filled with sweetness and light. Then, the plot took a turn for the gruesome and hooked me.
 
   When I started reading Murder in Murray Hill, I figured it would get bounced quickly in spite of its many strengths. The book's sixteenth in the Gaslight Mystery series, and I haven't really been following the series ... though I remembered the characters from a couple years ago. I soon found myself immersed in Frank Mallory and Sarah Brandt's lives as if I had never left them. More important, Thompson gave enough clues as to what was going on, the the series book rates as a stand-alone, even though it's sixteenth in the series.

   First there're the twists and turns of the mystery. A girl has gone missing, and it soon becomes obvious there's more than one victim of a lonely hearts predator, ala 1890s style.The mystery really takes off when the first suspects are killed, and the book delves into the perks of the 1890s privileged class. This has been a constant theme in Thompson's books.

   Second, there's the milieu. Thompson has a clear grasp of 1890s New York City and the social mores of the times. She shows how people live comfortably, but not without anxieties at several income levels. These problems still echo down the decades, but Malloy and Brandt come up with solutions which work for them, even if breaking the conventions of the time. I found the silliest expectation was that a rich man shouldn't work. But then, I think the reason Malloy is rich is even sillier--Brandt wasn't considered savvy enough to manage her daughters inheritance by her former husband.

   Third, there're the characters. They are well-rounded enough that even the kids have personalities of their own. The victims also show their own differing coping skills that make them feel real. As for the main protagonists, they continue to grow with marriage looming in their future. Though the contrarian in me wonders --  what if Malloy took off with the daughter's inheritance and left Brandt in the lurch. It was a common phenomena when men control women's inheritances.

   Fourth, there's the pace. Thompson doesn't lollygag with unnecessary detail. You know enough to understand what's going on. But the reader doesn't get bogged in a quagmire of explanations of what happened before.

   Thompson has hit four bases, and that's enough for me to rate the book highly recommended.  Wish all the authors I buy did the same. This is a book, and maybe series, that writer's should study for how Thompson combines character development with plot twists to create a satisfying read.

Find excerpts and more reviews of Murder in Murray Hill at

Amazon and B & N Nook

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My Writing Rut

   Slow seems to be my operative adjective at the moment. Is it a dip into the SAD malaise? 

   Part of the problem is that I keep adding chapters to On the Run. This time because I needed to do a little foreshadowing for the demon fight that throws Pillar back on the road. Fortunately, I had a chapter in my files that I had deleted because it was repetitive where it was. Now it deepens the alliances with some additions -- which included more character development.

   Did get a new snippit up of On the Run.

   Figured out why I wasn't getting far with my outlined story for Trapper Tremaine. I didn't know very much about his in his back ground. It wasn't just about not knowing enough about guns. Think I have to go the the first scene when I saw him trudging through the snow towards a winter camp in the wilds.

   Now I'm wondering where I'm going to find time to write another story. My desktop is getting crowded with story files.

   Am beginning to think that one of the reasons why writers come up with blocks is that they don't know the people they are writing about. Or, maybe the ramifications of their problems.

Designing a Puzzling Who-Dun-It? Use Multiple Viewpoints to Solve Your Mystery

    Sometimes I find surprising reads in my dusty to-read piles. Mostly, I just shift an old book to the trade pile after a glance at the blurb, knowing it'll probably end up at Goodwill or Arc. Last week I discovered Neggers' The Widow, a romantic suspense novel with police procedural vibes in an isolated stack I eliminated. The opening of Neggers book hooked me enough to interrupt my reading of another book, adding a nice sub-plot.

   Is there such a thing as a sensible romance? Well, The Widow depicts one, making the book a nice cross-genre romance/who-dun-it. Maybe, this happened because the locale was in Maine where "blood" runs colder? Maybe, because the lovers were adults? Maybe, the author considered the mystery more important than the romance. Whatever, the romance offers its own suspense element in addition to the mystery.

   What I liked most about The Widow was the differing viewpoints on two related murders that happened near the same sea cliffs years apart by the cast of characters. While there were a diverse set of suspects and friends, I found their characterization a little flat. Oh, they all stood out as individuals, but they all seemed too consistent, even Abigail, who was trying to solve her husband's cold case murder. None of them do anything unexpected, not even the perp. While they weren't stick figures, the characters plowed their straight and narrow paths through the plot.

   Recommended because the books gives the reader lots of plausible suspects in two different murders. At the same time, Neggers tells a smooth flowing story that keeps a reader guessing as Abigail confronts the locals without any official authority to investigate. Read a plot summary and more reviews on

Amazon     and      Barnes & Noble.

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   Ever wondered about the online book review process? Anne R. Allen has written an interesting blog about book reviews -- Paid Reviews: Why Writers Should Never Buy Amazon Reviews -- which even readers will find interesting. It sorta underlines how important reviews are to writers, and what a favor you do for them when your review their books--even if it's only two sentences.

    Found another blog about bookstores on Mashable that made me smile. Actually, a couple of the clips made me laugh out loud. If you like bookstores, take a look I even pinned one of the videos. Did any of them intrigue you enough to share or pin it?

How about a contest?

   Guess which one of the book videos on Mashable I pinned at Pinterest, and I'll send you a free PDF The Ghostcrow. All you have to do is email me your guess to mkkaytheod at yahoo. I'll send you a PDF of the estory if you guess right. That way you don't have your email in my comments section.

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My Writing Rut

   Don't think I'm really in a rut, but I'm not progressing very fast with On the Run. This last week I wrote two new chapters ... only they were "back fill". Did a new first chapter from a demon's point of view. Actually think Neggers influenced me here. My Half-Elven stories/drafts have multiple viewpoints. But my self-published Andor stories are all single viewpoint stories, if I remember right.

   Then, I added anothing chapter where Pillar is given a choice to stay or go to the Bittermounts. Of course, she chooses to go to the Bittermounts in spite of the dangers from stalkers, which is now more real with the new first chapter rather than just hear-say.

   Too bad I'm such a messy writer. If I get editing done on the chapters, I may be posting an excerpt from the new first chapter at my website.

Ghostly Encounters of the Mysterious Kind

   So, the old man and I were bored and went out for coffee. My reward was discovering an original ghost mystery, pointed right towards the aisle of the bookstore.

   How different was the book? The ghost takes the lead in the sleuthing in Chris Marie Green's Another One Bites the Dust, the second volume in the Jenson Murphy, Ghost for Hire series. Yay. A bunch of ghosts who don't want to drift off into the great beyond or "into the glare" as Green puts it. Her ghosts prefer to bop around in the "Boo World".

   Jenson Murphy is an active, thinking ghost who is trying to solve her own murder -- if she can remember enough details. In the first book in the series, she was pulled from ghost limbo by a medium trying to solve another murder, but Murphy's efforts don't end there. She persists in sleuthing even though her first attempts [in the first book in the series] went awry when the medium released a malignant spirit.

   The delightful part, Murphy ain't the only active ghost. She has a cohort of friends helping her guard people in danger from psychopaths, alive or dead. In this case, from the threat of serious domestic violence. One of the features I found original is ghost using worm-holes ["travel tunnels", which they pull in after them] to travel from place to place. Don't think I ever saw that before.They all "eat" electricity to keep going so they don't revert to "stationary" ghosts. Lots of different takes on the ghost trope here.

   Green maintains a light touch as Murphy and her medium side-kick try to prevent a murder which they discover is related to their first, semi-botched crime-solving attempt. Another nice touch is that Green gives her characters, even the secondary ones, weaknesses that hinder them in their pursuit of justice. As for the villain, I've seldom seen better ones drawn. All her important characters in the book seem to do unexpected things...which is reason enough to recommend the book.

The second book in the series stands alone on its own merits and is all the more interesting because three different mysteries are pulling the plot along.

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Writing Links

   Haven't done much marketing this week -- except for listing last week's blog. But I did come across a neat article on how to make better use of your time by Lisa Jacobs at Marketing Creativity. Check out her strategy: Seven Ways to Be More Productive in 2015. I know I'm going to be referring to this article again and again.

   Calling all Speculative Fiction Writers. Found this list of markets accepting submissions by Erica Verrillo on her blog, Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity. I saved it as soon as I finished chuckling over the title of her blog. [I think self-publishing is a form of insanity.]

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My Writing

    Am feeling like a real slacker. Not as far as my writing's concerned, though. Not only did I get a revised version of Demon Eyes [after adding enough to one chapter to make two for Cassy Mae's new story] to my critque group -- but I got a whole new chapter written plus an outline of a guest blog. Now, all I have to do is write it.

   Even got some good work done on my website. At this point, I'm thinking I only have to cut & paste several extended excerpts of my published stories -- and check for typos -- and I'll be ready to publish the new version of my author website. Then, you'll get to read some bits and pieces of what I'm currently writing.

   So what stitches in my pipsqueak writing career have I dropped? Well, The Ghostcrow has started to fester in my computer. The copy editor sent it back to me last week, and I haven't even looked at it. 

   Remember my intentions to send out four/five review queries for the new Dumdie story? Not done. Haven't done any work on revising the blurbs, long or short, either or lining up any other promotion for the story I was going to do the big splurge on. Guess it'll get dropped like a pebble into the ocean. Actually, I'm getting fed up with marketing and don't think it's such a bad idea.

    Then there's the poor lonesome -- Doom Comes for a Sold Soul [Amazon where you can see the reviews]. I've only done the one little give-away publicized on my social media networks rather than expanding to other networks. You can still download Doom for free on  Smashwords if you use code TP76B. Links to all my other stories, except Troublesome Neighbors, are at the bottom of the page. Hint. Hint.

   I don't even want to think about promoting my other stories.Yeah, I'm feeling rather "treeish" like a good hermit should.

My Worst Writing Fear: What if My Mystery Falls Flat? -- Guest Post by Marni Graff

My Worst Writing Fear:

What If My Mystery Falls Flat?

by

 Marni Graff

 

Writing fiction is the best possible job. I get to play the “What If?” game when wearing my writer’s hat. Writing mysteries, which is what my novels are, is a whole different kind of game.

I always start with the end: I know who will die and why, at least the first body, which is the catalyst if there end up being more than one as the book evolves. It’s the ‘why’ that fascinates me. I’m not writing about serial killers, sociopaths, or psychopaths, even though I read those all the time. I’m fascinated with what would make an average person feel it’s reasonable to cross that fine line to take another’s life and feel justified doing so.

But mysteries are at their very heart a puzzle. I want readers to take the journey with my sleuth and with the detective on the case, as each try to figure out who is behind the killing. In the English mystery series, that will be American writer Nora Tierney and Detective Inspector Declan Barnes. In my Manhattan mysteries, it’s nurse Trudy Genova and Detective Ned O’Malley. And my worst fear is that the reader will get there before any of my characters.

I want readers to feel they are solving the mystery along with Nora or Trudy, but not necessarily before they do. There’s an element of surprise that I hope is incorporated as the murderer is revealed near the climax of the book.

Juggling the investigations, with each woman coming at the murder from a different point of view from the procedural aspect of the male detective, means I have to offer each of them clues, red herrings, and suspects rather like Hansel and Gretel left their crumb trail. This is where it gets tough. I have to parse out information to both the detective and the amateur sleuth and the reader and hope to keep it all straight while advancing the story.

I also have to keep in mind that my trained detectives have procedures they must use and laws to be followed that affect the scope of the investigation. Yes, they’re the professionals, but they have also more limitations. My amateur sleuths don’t have these constraints and can often find information on their own by using their feminine wiles, being glib, and often plain out-and-out lying.

And all while this is unfolding I’m hoping the reader feels I’m playing fair with him or her. It’s a daunting task, and it’s a question I ask my beta readers: when did you figure out whodunit?

So far feedback from readers who enjoy the books has led me to feel I’ve been successful. I have had a few emails from people who told me they figured out the culprit early on--only to be found wrong at the book’s end.

If that’s the case, I’ve done my job!

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Marni Graff is the award-winning author of The Nora Tierney Mysteries, set in England. The Blue Virgin introduces Nora, an American writer living in Oxford. The Green Remains and The Scarlet Wench trace Nora’s move to the Lake District where murder follows her.  In process is The Golden Hour, set in Bath, and premiering in Spring 2015 will be Graff’s new Manhattan series, Death Unscripted, featuring nurse Trudy Genova, a medical consultant for a New York movie studio. Graff is also co-author of Writing in a Changing World, a primer on writing groups and critique techniques. 

Graf also writes crime book reviews at www.auntiemwrites.com and is Managing Editor of Bridle Path Press. A member of Sisters in Crime, Graff runs the NC Writers Read program in Belhaven. All of Graff’s books can be bought at Amazon or at http://www.bridlepathpress.com and are available as eBooks.

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Book Blurb:

The Scarlett Wench

In the third award-winning Nora Tierney Mystery, the American writer awaits a traveling theatre troupe that will stage Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit at Ramsey Lodge, Nora’s Cumbrian home. Nora must juggle parenting her infant son with helping to run the lodge, while furthering her relationship with DI Declan Barnes, ostensibly there for a hiking trip. When a series of pranks and accidents escalate to murder, Nora realizes her child is in jeopardy and springs into action to help Declan unmask a killer. Written in English mystery style, complete with a Cast of Characters, all chapter epigrams are lines from the play; a copy of the book was requested for the archives of Coward’s estate.

 “The Scarlet Wench has all the ingredients of a good read: atmospheric setting, intriguing characters, complex plot and excellent writing.”

                 Rebecca Tope, UK author of The Cotwolds Series and The Lake District Series

M. K. Graff does it again with another compelling and intriguing Nora Tierney classic. As always, the characters are multifaceted, the plot twists are unpredictable and the backdrop of Ramsey Lodge at Bowness-on-Winderere will make you want to hop a plane for the UK locale. The Scarlet Wench is another winner!”

                 P. M. Terrell, author of Vicki’s Key, The Tempest Murders and River Passage

“A lively cast of characters, an intriguing mystery and a heroine you have to love … M. K. Graff does it again, with a new mystery you can’t put down!”

                                           Susan Sloate, author of Forward to Camelot and Stealing Fire