A Magnificent Assembly of Liars

By Martha Reed

I found an item listed on eBay recently that I decided I had to have and since I’ve been working like a dog lately I decided to treat myself and actually buy it. It’s a 1931 edition of My Story by Mary Roberts Rinehart and I find myself looking forward to reading it although I usually cast a wary eye on autobiographies because I always wonder about the motivation that made an author want to write one.

My first thought whenever I pick up a fiction author’s autobiography is why would the author even want to publish a book of fact? My follow up question is how much of this material can I trust as fact when I know first hand how the mind of a fiction writer works and editing for content is a major part of it? As I handle the book, I wonder: how much of this can I take as gospel when I know that the author is presenting to the world their unique and personal take on the arbitrary subject of how they lived their life?

I only ask this question because I know they lie.

Dame Agatha Christie skipped an important chapter in her autobiography when she forgot to mention that she disappeared for eleven days in 1926 after her husband Archie asked for a divorce. Her disappearance resulted in a massive national manhunt until Agatha turned up in a Yorkshire hotel claiming to suffer from amnesia. At the time, some folks considered this a publicity stunt while others claim she was trying to set Archie up for her murder as an act of revenge. Sounds like a fiction writer to me!

Dorothy L. Sayers hid an illegitimate son from her family and friends who only learned of John Anthony’s existence after her death in 1957. Imagine the shock of opening the door to a twenty-year old young man who says: “Hello. I’m Dorothy’s son.”


In 1947, Mary Roberts Rinehart was involved in a bizarre personal drama. She was reading in her library when her chef Reyes came in, objecting to her orders. Pulling out a gun, he shot her a point blank range. The gun misfired and Rinehart ran for help. A young man was standing at the door, looking for work. “Young man,” Rinehart reportedly said, “You’ll have to come back later. There is a man here trying to kill me.” Wielding a carving knife in each hand, the enraged chef attacked her again before being subdued by the other servants. Reyes was arrested and hung himself in his cell. Rinehart paid for the funeral.

I leave it to you to imagine his motivation.

WRITING WITH OTHERS

by Gina Sestak

Writing can be a solitary pursuit. We sit alone in a room, pounding away at a keyboard, or take long lonely walks to work out plot points. We live inside our own heads, interacting with the fantasies who live there.

But there is another way, an intersctive way. Collaborators bounce ideas off one another. They may exchange text to edit or agree to each write certain sections of a work.

Collaboration is nothing new in the mystery field. Ellery Queen was famously the pseudonym of two men who wrote the fictional detective together.

I've even collaborated myself before, but only on non-fiction. My only published hardcover,  Informed Consent:  A Study of Decision-Making in Psychiatry, was a collaborative effort, written by a six-person team.   It was a full time job for me and two of my co-authors.  The other three held faculty and administrative positions as well.  We worked on it for three years of weekly meetings, first conducting the underlying study, then drafting the manuscript.  We each took responsibility for various chapters, which were then edited together to form a coherent whole.  It was very structured.  I also collaborated with one of my co-authors on a journal article, Legislating Human Rights: The Pennsylvania Mental Health Procedures Act.  That was a little more free-form, but still structured very academically.

This past summer I began working on a film script with another person.  It's based on his idea.  I admit that.  I came on board primarily to help out with dialogue.  And it isn't to a point that I can publicly reveal the story details to a bunch of strangers on the internet.   The process is interesting, though.  We brain-storm about the story line and characters, which really gets ideas flowing.   We exchange written material as email attachments, some of which refuse to open.   We're working on it.

I've found it's easy to maintain enthusiasm when there's someone else invested in the writing process.  And that ideas come fast and furious during those brain-storming sessions.

What about you?  Have you ever co-written anything?  Why or why not?  What was your experience?

IT’S RECIPE TIME!!!!

by Pat Gulley


Yes, it’s that time of the year when two big cooking (and for some much more) events are upon us. And the newspapers, magazines, blogs and Tweets are full of Quick and Easy and much faster ways to make ‘traditional’ foods. Uh huh! Right. Substituting cheese pie for Cheese Cake, to me, has always been a crime. Sure it can be tasty, but NOT when you are expecting real cheese cake and instead you get premade graham cracker crust and cool whip topping. Oh pie made with canned pumpkin in a pie and that ghastly (to me, to me) of all stuff, evaporated milk.

So let’s hear it for hard recipes, ones that takes a great deal of time and can wear you down to the bone just getting the ingredients prepared. Okay, I’m not going to go off on a tangent and ask you to go out and shoot your own turkey or cure your own ham—though there is the possibility that some of you do that—but I will recommend a fresh turkey over frozen any day. No, no comments on the bird. I’d rather stick with the important part of the menu—Dessert!!!

Okay, so I’ve said enough about cheese cake. Let’s just talk about that old faithful, Pumpkin Pie, which can be reinterpreted with sweet potatoes and a multitude of different squashes.

First let me say this. Remember in the movie Julie and Julia when Julia was trying to get her cookbook published by a New York publisher, and even though all the men were enthusiastic about it, it was still suggested that she get some recipes in there that called for fast box mixes and canned goods? Remember that? They implied that the American Woman could not cope with anything else? Remember that? In the movie and the book, it made me boiling mad. Anyway, that’s what I now think of when a recipe says ‘canned pumpkin’. What’s so hard about using fresh pumpkin? Sure it’s time consuming, so what? Aren’t there a ton of them around after Halloween all going to waste? Sure some get totally ruined by all the candle wax and sitting out in the elements for weeks, but some don’t and if you are not into wasting food, here’s a good way not to. All you have to do is slice the pumpkin up, cut off bad parts, do not peel, and boil until soft in a large pot. Remove softened pieces with a slotted spoon to a colander, and keep adding water to pot for additional pieces until done. When cool, the soft pulp easily comes off the skin with a table spoon. This can be done with any of the three colors of Acorn Squashes—dark green, pumpkin orange and pure white—and they taste great. Just mash the pulp with a potato masher for a richer texture and taste, or, if you must, puree it. All my pumpkin pie eaters prefer fresh and fibrous now and sneer at the canned stuff as much as those frozen pies in the frozen food cases.

And of course you can do the same with sweet potato pie. What’s the secret to the best sweet potato pie in the world???? Use Yams!!!!! And instead of that yucky evaporated milk, use half-and-half. Of course, 2 tablespoons of brandy or rum will do any of these pies a world of good. And if you prefer a touch of tanginess, try using sour cream, or part sour cream and part real milk. I’ve seen a Fanny Farmer recipe that requires buttermilk and lemon juice. I might try that one of these days. I even found one that called for sweetened condensed milk. WOW, was that sweet, you could barely tasted the squash.

All these squashes and potatoes use the same recipe, though when I tried sweetmeat squash, it was really too soft for a normal recipe. You have to adjust the recipe as it does not thicken like the harder squashes. ADD FLOUR!!!!! Not a chance!

You’ll notice that there is no recipe provided, that’s because I have great faith that all of you know where to lay your hands on one, and can improvise like the clever and great improviser I’m sure you are. But if not, email me off list.

I was also going to discuss recipes in general, and how I’ve never met one I wasn’t sure I could make better if I changed it in some way, but maybe another time.

PS, I was watching the cooking channel last night and fresh pumpkin was also suggested, however this cook used the small sugar pumpkins and she baked hers. I guess you can do that instead of boiling. Frankly, it sounds too easy.
So, anyone looking forward to trying hard and time consuming over fast and easy this T-day?

Can I get a “Hell, yeah!”

By Paula Matter


Six weeks tomorrow, a new year will begin. I’ll wait while you go look at your calendar.

See? Hard to believe, huh? I had to count it three times to make sure I had the time right. Six short weeks. I say short because the older I get, the faster time flies. I’ve noticed that happening over the past few years, but this year really flew by.

I’m thinking it’s because I’m getting older. And in less than six weeks, I’ll be even older. About this time every year I look back on any goals I may’ve have met. I’d started the year by wanting to do more with my writing, go more places, attend more events.

2009 was a doozy! Workshops, mystery festivals and library events, three-count-em-three conferences, joining this blog. Plus working with an freelance editor. Diving into revisions, losing revisions, diving back into them. Can I get a “Hell, yeah!”

Probably the most fun goal was entering the Flashwords contest for the Crime Bake conference.

The announcement of this contest couldn’t have come at a better time. Remember I mentioned diving back into revisions after losing them? Well. . . some time lapsed in between and with it all motivation to write. Not only motivation, but the ability seemed lost as well. Then I heard about the contest and it sounded like fun. Just what I needed to get going again.

The gist of the contest: Write a compelling crime story in 150 words or less, using at least ten of the title words from the best-selling “alphabet series” by our Guest of Honor, Sue Grafton!

Early Sunday morning, I learned I was one of the three winners! I asked how many entries had been received, and she assured me it was more than three. Below is my story. I hope you enjoy it!

S Is Not For Stalker

Dear Killer Agent:

It is without judgement or malice I send this quarry. I’m no deadbeat author and can provide evidence by sending you my 225,000 word fiction novel featuring Gumshoe Gary, the first of my Lawless Homicide detective series. Gary’s a fugitive because he has no alibi, and can’t prove he’s innocent in the Case of the Missing Corpse where one of his bullets supposedly ricocheted and killed a trespassing burglar. Now, Gary’s an outlaw swept away in the undertow of murder, larceny and other really bad stuff.

It’s at your peril if you don’t publish this exciting new series. It’ll make us both filthy rich and I’m ready to appear on Oprah. I look forward to meeting you at Crime Bake. I’ll wait in the bar although agents don’t usually frequent bars. I’ll be sitting in silence with a noose around my neck.

Sincerely,

Wanna B. Writer

 
Can you find all of Sue Grafton's titles? What are some of your goals in 2009? In 2010? Time to start thinking about it if you haven't already!

Remodeling the Cave: Conclusion

by Annette Dashofy

Anyone who’s been following my Writing, etc. blog knows of our big remodeling project that culminated this weekend with my office being stripped to the bones.

To summarize, my office AKA my cave was the last room in the house to have the decades old carpeting ripped up and replaced with laminate wood flooring. I love the new floor in the rest of the house, but dreaded the ordeal of moving EVERYTHING out of my domain. I was living in a dreadful state of clutter and definitely needed the incentive to clear out an abundance of junk, but feared I’d lose something important.

Like my manuscript.

I put off the project until all nonfiction deadlines had been met and the first draft of the novel was finished and simmering in my brain prior to revision. Those requirements were met late last week.

I debated showing the horror of the “before” pictures, but here goes.

This is one angle BEFORE.

This is another. Eek.

This is after most of the “stuff had been removed. The computer was disconnected and waiting. Skye kitty is just waiting. It's her cave, too, and she did not approve of all the activity going on.

The floor went down in only a matter of a few hours. Reorganizing and replacing all the contents took days. In fact, it’s still an ongoing process. But here is the ALMOST finished product.

Check out the new floor! And I can see the tops of the desks! Anyone want to take bets on how long that lasts?

Magical Mystery Weekend and Sue Grafton on Writing Groups

By Pat Remick

This past weekend was beyond magical for me as a mystery writer, highlighted by a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to escort a rock star in the mystery world who is also an inspiration to women writers in this genre -- the incredible Sue Grafton.

Her acceptance of the invitation to be guest of honor at this weekend's 2009 New England Crime Bake conference for mystery writers and fans is credited with helping us sell out for the first time despite tough economic times that led to the cancellation of other mystery conferences.

As many of you know, Sue Grafton's books featuring private investigator Kinsey Milhone have been published in 28 countries, 26 languages and have a readership in the millions. She expects to conclude her alphabet series -- which began with "A is for Alibi" in 1982 and will see its 21st installment,"U is for Undertow, on Dec. 1 --  by 2015 with "Z is for Zero."

You can imagine how thrilled I was to be the Crime Bake organizing committee member assigned to escort her during the weekend conference. But you cannot imagine my embarrassment over what happened just minutes after I proudly informed her that we arranged for an executive car service to transport the two of us from the airport to the conference hotel because we were so pleased to have her as our guest of honor. Instead of the black town car I anticipated would drive up, the vehicle from American Executive Car and Taxi was from the "taxi" side and had seen better days. I was mortified then, but can laugh about it now.

Sue, however, was exceptionally gracious. She also is extremely funny and irreverent (no surprise to her readers) and was extrordinarily generous with her time and advice to the nearly 300 authors and wanna-be writers at Crime Bake. Not only did she sign every book and additional object pushed in front of her, she surprised everyone by offering to critique the first 20 pages of one attendee whose name she selected in a random drawing.

I also became aware of another example of her generosity, though it was far less public. An unpublished writer showed Sue a book she had signed at an event 21 years earlier. The woman told Sue then that she was writing a mystery. Sue offered to review a few pages and added her contact information. The woman never sent them, and finally finished her manuscript recently. "Then I'll read them now," Sue told her Saturday. The woman got in her car and drove home to retrieve them -- and later enjoyed the manuscript review of her life.

It's difficult to convey the energy at Crime Bake, but everyone was excited about the opportunity to meet Sue Grafton and hear her speak, although I suspect that some of what she said during her luncheon address was not easily accepted by many in the audience.

I'm not talking about her urging her listeners to delete adverbs and avoid words like glare and stomp. Or her suggestion that writers refrain from having women characters square their shoulders or blow their bangs up off their faces. I'm also not referring to her belief that the trick of a successful mystery is to fool the reader without making him or her angry. 

I'm talking about the point where she said that perhaps writers should not join writers' groups. Did I just hear a collective gasp out there? I did in the ballroom of the Dedham Hilton.

In her view, writers' groups can make you feel too comfortable. They tell you your work is great, even when it's not. She believes writing involves isolation and creating in a pressure cooker. In her view, joining a group where you share your work also means you give away energy -- energy that would be better put into your manuscript.

It's a point worth considering. I never joined a writing group because I do not think there is enough time for me to be part of such a group, keep up with my everyday life and finish my novel, too. However, I have many writer friends who say their writing groups are what keep them going and they could not continue this difficult endeavor of writing without such support.

What do you think? Do you agree with Sue Grafton's point about writing groups?

To read more about the Crime Bake experience, click here. The photo is the same, as are some of the words, but there are  more details about the weekend. One important element is missing, however: Our very own Working Stiffs blogger Paula Matter won the Crime Bake Flash Fiction Contest! Hopefully she'll share her creation soon. Yay Paula!

Finding an End

by
Wilfred Bereswill

On Thursday, Joyce blogged about being stuck on a scene.  Well for the past two weeks I've been stuck on THE scene.  In my opinion, one of the most important scene... The ending.

You see, I know how the book ends.  I've known how it will end since I began writing it a year ago.  But like all good trips and books, it's the journey.  I want the last 50 pages or so to be the kind that you have to read in one sitting.  While I'm biased, I think I achieved that with my first story.  But this one isn't there yet.   And I've been stuck there for a couple of weeks.  Roughly 5,000 words to go, I know where it's going and I have a route planned.  Just not the most scenic.

Part of me says, "Just write the damn thing and rewrite it."  Part of me doesn't want to waste the time of writing something that I know won't stick.  You see, unlike some writers, I don't have a lot of time to write.  I need to make the best of it.

So what do you think?  Write and rewrite, or wait until I stumble upon the right path?

On a personal note, I'll be having somebody coming at my lower jaw with a screw gun.  Of course the oral surgeon used much more technical terms during the consult, but in essence, on Wednesday while only under a general anesthetic (Novocain) the doctor will yank a lower front tooth and bury a titanium screw into my jawbone.  Hopefully no bone grafting will be required and I'll walk out a couple of hours later with a temporary cap attached to the titanium in my jaw.  Okay, the technical term is called an implant, but that just doesn't do the whole thing justice.

And of course, dental insurance doesn't really cover the procedure, so I'll be upwards of $4,000 poorer. Seems like a high price to pay for a lot of pain and a few grams of titanium.  Anyway, wish me luck and know that on Wednesday morning I'd rather pay any one of you $4,000 to trade places with me.