Clues You Write Romantic Suspense - Blast from the Past by Linda Lovely

(First published in 2011) 

First Clue You Write Suspense. While visiting with your two Ph.D. nieces, you spend lots of time questioning them about exotic toxins and pathogens and how a smart killer might employ them to get away with murder—or at least give it a good try.

First Clue You Write ROMANTIC Suspense: One of said nieces, a Beta reader for your manuscripts, fans herself after reading a love scene. “Oh, my God, how did you come up with that?” she asks. Then, she crawfishes. “Nope. Sorry. Not sure I want to know.”

My name is Linda Lovely. The fact that my very smart (and funny) nieces have earned doctorates probably gives you a hint that I’m not in my twenties. Okay, I waved goodbye to 50 a while back, too. Yep, I’m a baby boomer. Like many other debut authors in my age range, I’m finally at a point in my life/career where I have time to write what I want. In my case, that’s either romantic suspense or a mystery with strong romantic elements.

My debut novel, DEAR KILLER, features a heroine who’s over age 50.

Thankful for Richer-Than-Alma’s-Pie Memories

By Linda Lovely

I first published this Thanksgiving post in 2014. If any of our loyal readers remember that far back, please forgive the repeat. However, I'm delighted to report I have family visiting from today, Nov. 22, till Dec. 1, and I have tons of cooking to do before I put that 23-lb bird in the oven!  

On my favorite holiday list, Thanksgiving has long run neck-and-neck with Christmas for top honors. True, it doesn’t involve gifts or a lighted Christmas tree, but Thanksgiving features the three ingredients most important to me—family, fun, and feasting.

Some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around our November gatherings. Thanksgiving was the one time of year every aunt, uncle, and first, second, and third cousin living in a 30-mile radius descended upon my cousin’s farm in Hamilton, Illinois. For Mom, my sister, and me that meant venturing “over the river” (the Mississippi)—though we didn’t need to travel “through the woods.”   

We always entered the farmhouse through the back porch and kitchen, where the smell of roasting turkey made me go weak in the knees. Of course, my sister and I were shooed outside after we helped carry in our contributions to the feast—Mom’s scalloped oysters and that year’s version of a fancy cake. I should note here that no substitutions were allowed. Every relative was expected to contribute the same fixings year after year. I’m not sure what year this menu was fixed but it never deviated.

That meant the morning of Thanksgiving we always helped Mom roll saltine crackers between sheets of wax paper to make crumbs and finger slimy oysters in search of hidden shell fragments before she assembled her oyster casserole. Mom did vary what cake she provided in the battered 9 x 13-inch aluminum pan with sliding lid that was part of our travel arsenal. Mom searched newspapers and magazines for festive cake recipes, which never involved icing but were nonetheless rich and gooey. Assignments for other relatives included cranberry salad, creamed corn, lima beans, green beans, made-from-scratch dinner rolls, boatloads of gravy, pumpkin pies, and my Cousin Alma’s famous pecan pies. Ah, yes, Alma’s pies (drool here) topped with real whipped cream.  

Funny, but I never remember rain (or snow) on Thanksgiving. In my mind, it was always sunny though often chilly. That made the big red barn a certain stop for the under-age relatives who spent most non-eating hours outdoors. Of course, the feast’s many courses did require a lot of dinner table time. One table for children, another for adults.

I know this is a shocker for younger generations, but the entire day—and early evening (we couldn’t leave without turkey sandwiches)—was spent without watching TV, playing video games, texting, Facebooking or tweeting.

What did we do? Rode ponies (and pigs, but that’s another story). Chased chickens. Cuddled kittens—there always seemed to be a new litter hiding in the hay in the barn. We also walked through the fields, and searched for (and always found) geodes in the stream bed. Later we smashed the geodes on the sidewalk to see the pretty glitter inside.

I know memory is a funny thing. But I never recall any of my relatives quarrelling. I only remember the laughter. And, I remember the intoxicating smells. I live hundreds of miles away from that farm today. But I’m thankful that this Thanksgiving, like most, we’ll have a dozen people at our dinner table. We’ll go outside for walks, and, weather depending, maybe take a boat ride. I’m also thankful I have Alma’s recipe for pecan pie—a dish I’m required to provide year after year.

I hope your Thanksgiving memories—the ones past and the ones yet to be made—are equally happy.      

Linda Lovely is the author of eight mystery/thriller/suspense novels. BAD PICK is the latest book in her humorous cozy Brie Hooker Mystery Series. And, if you're traveling for Thanksgiving, check out audio versions of five of her books available via Audible and Amazon.  

Scary Settings for Lights-Out Fright

By Linda Lovely

Halloween is days away, which puts me in mind of all manner of scary things. While it’s always potentially frightening to find yourself in the dark, some settings can add extra heebie-jeebies when you’re alone and the lights dim.

Common advice to authors is “write what you know.” Well, since I know what settings have the power to scare me, it stands to reason they should also quicken the pulse of my heroines. Creepy locations help authors build tension and foreshadow there’s danger ahead. My go-to list of such settings includes forests, caves, and basements.

FORESTS. The woods may be “lovely, dark, and deep” but they’re also home to creatures like coyotes and wolves with bone-chilling cries. And let’s not forget the critters that rustle leaves as they scoot or slither along the forest floor. Well, I’m not certain a snake’s movements actually rustle leaves but I sure don’t want to step on one in the dark.

I’ve forced my heroines onto scary forest trails in several books, including Dead Hunt, a romantic thriller, set in Upstate South Carolina. In Picked Off, the second of my cozy Brie Hooker Mysteries, Brie, who is afraid of heights (like me), is chased along a narrow wooded trail that has dizzying drop-offs. Picked Off is also an ideal read for this time of year since it opens with Brie and friends turning a barn into a haunted attraction and donning Halloween costumes.

CAVES. Since Hannibal, Missouri’s Mark Twain Cave was about 40 miles from my hometown, I visited at an impressionable age. Stalactite daggers looked ready to impale me should the rock ceiling shift. Bats clinging to perches above my head added more menace, and the cool moist air gave me a crop of goosebumps even on summer days.

I used caves as frightening sets in two novels—Lies: Secrets Can Kill, an historical thriller set in 1938 in Keokuk, Iowa, my hometown, and Dead Line, a romantic suspense set in Jamaica, an island with more than 1000 known caves carved from its limestone. While researching Jamaican caves, I contacted the http://www.jamaicancaves.org, and was rewarded with generous help (and incredible videos) from caving enthusiasts.

BASEMENTS.  Hey, basements are underground (like graves), and really, really dark if the lights flicker out. My childhood home’s scary basement had creaky stairs and a black as pitch coal bin. Wood planks covered a damp dirt floor with hair-like sprouts. Dusty bottles holding who knew what lined sagging shelves. We learned what when some of granddad’s root beer spontaneously exploded one hot summer day. His home brew had a real kick. 

In Dead Hunt, a killer sets a trap for the heroine in the basement of her own older home.  

What settings have the power to give you the biggest chills?

Visit my website: www.lindalovely.com for information on all eight of my published novels or to sign up for my newsletter.

How Do I Name Characters in a Book?

By Linda Lovely

I’d say my problem is due to my age, but I’d be lying. I’ve always had a hard time remembering people’s names. I’m introduced and five seconds later, I’m asking myself: “Is his name really Harold?”

When I start reading a book, the same thing happens. It takes a while for me to “know” characters on a first-name basis not to mention their roles in the story. That means I’m not fond of authors who insist on giving their characters similar names. It confuses me.

There are 26 letters in the alphabet, so why on earth would an author choose to name several of the main characters with first names starting with say “D.” Dan…Don…Donna…Deb…Dora…Dennis…and the list goes on. The same is true with last names. Does the author really need to have characters with Webb and Webster as last names? Of course, people writing historical fiction have an excuse but fiction writers do not.

And it’s not just the first letters of a name that can throw me—and other readers. Belatedly, I sympathize with my mother. When I was a teen and dating two young men with similar sounding names, she invariably called Don by the name Ron and vice versa.

So how can an author avoid this pitfall? My solution is a sortable Excel spreadsheet for each book’s cast of characters. Here are the headings for the columns:

First Name…Last Name…Age….Eye Color…Hair Color…Height… Build…Profession…Distinguishing Features…Role in Book.

If I’m creating the spreadsheet for additional books in a series, I have two more column headers “Dead” and “In Jail.” That’s so I don’t suddenly bring a character who died in a prior book back to life or fail to give “jail” as an iron-tight alibi for someone who was sentenced to life with no parole in book two.

The spreadsheet lets me sort characters by first name or last name to see if I’ve accidentally fallen in love with a certain letter while I’m in the process of character introduction. Of course, the spreadsheet also serves as a cheat sheet I can reference—especially in a series—to make certain I don’t give a grown woman an inexplicable change in build or a man a new eye color without any mention of plastic surgery or contact lenses.

I also try to make certain the names I pick are appropriate given a character’s age. A seventy-year-old named Linda is quite believable. A seven-year-old named Linda in a contemporary book would be a fluke. There are dozens of websites you can check for the most popular names given to babies in each year as well as popular names among people who have different cultural heritages from Irish to Japanese.

I also avoid some names for “good” characters because I’ve personally disliked someone by that name. It makes no sense, but, hey, the characters are in my book, I can name them as I please.   

Are there names you love or hate? Does it color your ability to relate to a character?

Linda Lovely is the author of eight published mystery/suspense novels. Her latest book, BAD PICK, is the third book in the humorous cozy Brie Hooker Mystery Series.

The Allure of Staycations

By Linda Lovely

In what now seems like a former life, I frequently traveled on business throughout the United States and occasionally to Mexico, South America, and Europe. Now I seldom venture beyond the Carolinas. 

Yet I still have the opportunity to enjoy beautiful and varied vistas as well as vibrant urban areas. I also get to share the regional sights and delights with family and friends on my “Staycations.”

My husband and I live on Lake Keowee in Upstate South Carolina. That means people enjoy visiting our neck of the woods. From June through September, the lake is warm enough for visitors to jump off our dock for a swim. We’ve even had family (from Saskatchewan) take a dip at Thanksgiving! Year round, we can enjoy the lake via our “geezer craft”—a pontoon boat—or for the more athletic by peddling or paddling one of our kayaks.

But lakes are just one of our region’s charms. I recently took a house guest from Germany peach picking at Chattooga Belle farm, which offers gorgeous mountain vistas as well as peaches, grapes, apples and a distillery. And the season for apple picking (or just enjoying the cider) in the mountain apple orchards near Hendersonville, NC, has just begun.

There are too many mountain hiking trails to list. But, if you prefer hiking/walking with a side of urban fun, there’s the Swamp Rabbit Trail for walking and bicycling that runs from near Travelers Rest through downtown Greenville. That means there are ample opportunities to take an ice cream break or buy local honey for tomorrow morning’s biscuits.

Split Creek Goat Dairy, the inspiration for the fictitious Udderly Kidding Dairy, in my humorous, cozy Brie Hooker mysteries, also is a favorite with our company, especially in the spring when the baby goats are more entertaining than any human comediennes.  

Among other favorite show-off-for-company stops are the South Carolina Botanical Gardens, located in Clemson, SC. The gardens are gorgeous any time of the year. Always something blooming plus the paths through deep, shaded forest and beside creeks make you feel like you’re exploring virgin woods (except for the convenience of real bathrooms near the parking lot).

Then there’s Clemson University’s Death Valley football stadium. It looks as if I may be attending my first football game there with family on September 7 when our great nephew will be on the field (playing for Texas A&M, not Clemson). I don’t dare wear my Clemson earrings that day.

And I haven’t even mentioned the delights offered in and around Asheville, NC, including the Biltmore mansion and grounds, Biltmore Village, and the magnificent Blue Ridge Parkway.

See, there are plenty of reasons our car is our ticket to adventure and the cost is less than a tank of gas.

So, do you enjoy “Staycations”? What attractions do you show off when you have visitors?

Love's Ability To Endure

By Linda Lovely

When my friend’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, she’d been married for more than 50 years. No one could have faulted the husband for placing his wife in a nursing home once she no longer knew who he was and needed to be watched and cared for around the clock. But he chose to care for her at home—for years.

A handyman, he constructed a variety of safeguards to ensure his wife didn’t harm herself by falling in a bathtub or bolting out the front door alone and disoriented. He never lost his patience or his love for this woman, even after she’d disappeared into a shadow land where he was a stranger.

The strength and endurance of this man’s love for his wife touched my heart.

I don’t mean for this to be a sad post. Love’s ability to endure despite all types of emotional pressures and physical tests is something that should make us optimistic and happy. It means we can try to build the kind of relationships with our spouses, partners, friends that will stand the test of time—and how time and experiences are bound to change our bodies and our minds.

I still love and enjoy spending time with friends who are on opposite sides of political issues. How? The long-time bonds we share are more important. 

Then there’s marriage. My husband doesn’t look like he did on our wedding day. The thick black hair has vanished, but, fortunately, his sense of humor hasn’t. Am I the person my husband married? Nope. I doubt he imagined how I’d look forty-some years hence. Gray hair…wrinkles…love handles (okay, fat deposits).

Nonetheless he looks past these “minor” defects when he laughs at my expressions and braves my morning breath to kiss me when he wakes.

But, should I succumb to Alzheimer’s, I hope he’ll put me in a nursing home. Not because he loves me less, but because I wouldn’t want him to suffer watching me disappear.

That’s love, too.

Info (And Fun) You Won’t Find On the Internet

By Linda Lovely

I recently was invited to talk with students in Creative Writing and English classes at a local high school. Part of my advice to those students interested in writing fiction was to go beyond the Internet to do research. A writer’s best resources are people who have actual hands-on experience, and, almost always, they’re more than willing to talk about their work and themselves.

My intent wasn’t to downplay the Internet’s value. I can and do Google topics to find a wealth of materials and information, though I also try to vet these sources to make sure they’re reliable. I also tap into YouTube to open visual/audio windows into experiences. For instance, I watched clips of Billy goats in rut and how-to drone-flying demos to help craft scenes in PICKED OFF, my second Brie Hooker Mystery.

Yet, there’s no substitute for speaking directly with experts. I realize some aspiring authors are shy and feel they may be imposing if they ask strangers to spend time answering their questions. Yet most people are flattered rather than annoyed and enjoy the opportunity to share information. I can’t ever recall being rebuffed by an information “source.” Of course, it’s important to make clear why you want the information and how you plan to use it. Now that I’m writing fiction, that simply means I’ll use their experiences and insights to help build more interesting, well-rounded characters and more credible plots.

For BONES TO PICK, my first Brie Hooker Mystery, I made in-person visits to goat farms and breweries (what a hardship) and quizzed the owners about the care and feeding of dairy goats and what’s involved in brewing moonshine. I also tasted goat fudge, and, of course, sampled moonshine. Visiting locations helped me visualize potential scenes and also triggered ideas about situations and activities for my characters.  Joining a goat yoga class was a true adventure, and provided the idea for the opening scene in my third Brie book, BAD PICK, due out April, 2019!

So how do you find experts if you’re writing a crime novel? Even authors of mysteries featuring amateur sleuths should try to be as accurate as possible in describing law enforcement and legal procedures, forensics, investigative techniques, etc.

I’ve discovered my best resources through my local Sisters in Crime chapter and the phenomenal annual Writers’ Police Academy (WPA). This August I’ll be attending my seventh WPA event, a special MurderCon edition that will focus on using forensic tools to solve homicides. Over the years, these two sources—Sisters in Crime and the WPA—have been treasure troves of information and contacts. Through these organizations I’ve met everyone from FBI, ATF and Treasury agents to paramedics, coroners, detectives and defense attorneys. What’s more, since I’ve met them, I’m not a stranger calling them out of the blue. We have a prior connection and they know my request is legitimate.

So if you don’t know an answer, ask! Not only may you be surprised by the answer, you may find answers to questions you didn’t even know you should ask. Conversations can be a wonderful adventure. And what a fun way to start a New Year!

Rediscovering the Joy of Photography

By Linda Lovely

This month’s theme centers on arts lost and found. In my case, the art is photography. When I was fresh out of college, I worked for Eastman Kodak Company. At the time, Kodak was an international giant. Among its employee benefits were lots of photography courses. I loved them. There was something truly magical about working in a darkroom and watching chemicals alter a blank sheet of photographic paper into a work of art. Or at least a work of art in the eye of its maker.

When I left Kodak, I was a competent photographer, who understood F-stops, exposure options and how to light a scene. I used those skills for years, taking pictures to accompany the articles I wrote for business and trade magazines, newsletters, brochures, and print ads. When I traveled on assignment, including overseas, I lugged two 35mm camera bodies, at least four lenses, a tripod, and lighting equipment. I can’t even imagine doing that with today’s security measures. I never checked my equipment and always insisted that my multiple rolls of film should not be exposed to x-rays. 

When I decided to concentrate on writing fiction, I no longer needed to shoot photos for work. By then digital photography had arrived and totally changed the game. No worries about whether a picture would turn out as you imagined. You could look at it in camera a moment after you took it and make instant adjustments. And there was no need to conserve film during a shoot. You could snap all the pictures you pleased—at least until your camera’s battery or internal memory dictated a pause.

You’d think the change to digital would have made me eager to take even more pictures. It didn’t. After giving away the photographic gear I’d invested hundreds of dollars in, I bought a small digital camera for personal, not professional, use and primarily used it to take family photos. I didn’t invest the time required to figure out the computerized options, and frequently got frustrated trying to zoom or take macro shots that once would have been a snap. The camera broke and I didn’t replace it.

Recently, however, I found I was missing being able to capture scenes and happy moments as images. So I told my family I was planning to buy a new camera and asked for suggestions. The answer was “why?” just use a smart phone. I’m well known as a kill joy among my smart phone addicted relatives. You can wear whatever you like when you sit down at our dinner table, but leave the phones in another room. I’m quite content with my flip phone that costs $100 a year for on-the-road emergencies.

But I didn’t say no when my nephew offered me an “old” smart phone sitting unused in their house to use as a camera. No data plan required, and I must say it takes excellent pictures I can download directly to my computer through a USB connection. PERFECT! 

I’m having fun with photography again. Hope it lasts.The photos included were taken in the past couple weeks.

Writers Who’ve Influenced (and Entertained) Me

By Linda Lovely

Over the years—okay, decades—I’ve loved hundreds of mystery, romantic suspense, and thriller novels penned by a host of female and male authors. However, I have to credit four women authors for having the greatest influence on my approach to developing characters and plots for crime novels. These authors are Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, Susan Isaacs, and Janet Evanovich. 

Independent Heroines Succeeding in ‘Male’ Careers. Both Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky ably demonstrated that heroines could be whizzes at jobs traditionally reserved for men.  Sue Grafton’s character, Kinsey Millhone. and Paretsky’s character, V.I. Warshawski, are both private investigators, PIs, capable of going toe-to-toe with bad guys without a male protector. They are mentally and physically tough. Unlike the heroines in crime novels in the Agatha Christie tradition, these modern heroines aren’t old-maid snoops, who solve mysteries by flitting around the edges of a case asking questions that “real” professionals considered meddlesome.

Like Sue Grafton & Sara Paretsky's
heroines, Marley Clark can go
toe-to-toe with villains.

Heroines Millhone and Warshawski helped assure me that the heroines in my novels could thrive in any occupation. As a result, my Marley Clark, the heroine in my Dear Killer and No Wake Zone mysteries, is a retired military intelligence officer; Nexi Ketts, the heroine in Dead Line, is a forensic accountant, and Riley Reid, a former FBI agent is security director for a university in my romantic suspense novel Dead Hunt. These ladies run marathons, know martial arts, and kick butt. Yet that doesn’t make them any less sexy and attractive.  

‘Older’ Wisecracking Heroines. Susan Isaacs’ heroine in After All These Years, Rosie Myers holds down a traditional female occupation—she teaches English literature. But Rosie breaks with a variety of mystery tropes for heroines. For starters, she’s older. I don’t remember her exact age, but she’s been married 25 years, so she’s around 50. However, age has only sharpened her razor wit and perspective. Yep, she can feel sorry for herself when her husband dumps her for a younger woman. Nonetheless, when she becomes the chief suspect in his murder, she quickly bounces back and shows her gumption again and again. I often found Rosie’s interior dialogues hysterical, including her thought process when she tried to decide whether or not she should pull out the knife sticking in her husband’s chest. She knows her strengths and can laugh at her weaknesses.

When I started playing with the idea of writing novels, I was over fifty, and I loved the idea of giving a fellow baby boomer one of the lead roles that are often reserved for younger women, who don’t have their elders’ knowledge and haven’t learned that laughing at their own foibles can improve one’s mental health. My Marley Clark character is 52 and like Rosie can laugh at herself—but is still quite capable of outwitting the villains.

Zany Sidekicks & An Ensemble Cast. Who knew Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum humorous mystery series, which started out with One for the Money would now boast 24 titles. The most recent is Hard Core Twenty-Four. Evanovich is a brilliant comedic writer, but I doubt her series could have enjoyed this longevity if she hadn’t populated her books with an ensemble case of zany characters. My favorite is Stephanie’s sidekick Lula, a reformed, oversized prostitute who hasn’t reformed how she dresses or some of her views. Lula’s various attempts at dieting are hilarious, and she’s a perfect foil for Stephanie in action scenes.  My second most favorite character is outrageous Grandma Mazur, who considers visitations and funerals a primary entertainment, and isn’t afraid to pack heat. 

My Brie Hooker Mysteries
feature an ensemble cast of
colorful characters, an idea
prompted by Janet Evanovich's
Stephanie Plum novels.

I’ve attempted to follow Evanovich’s lead in creating a diverse cast for my new humorous Brie Hooker Mystery Series. While Brie is a vegan, she lives with her Aunt Eva, a dedicated and somewhat cantankerous carnivore on a 400-goat dairy. Brie’s best friend, Mollye, owns a woo-woo store that sells all manner of supernatural objects and herbs in addition to her unique pottery. Mollye also does palm and tarot readings. Then there are Brie’s suitors—a legal moonshiner and a veterinarian. Picked Off, my newest release, also features a colorful former Las Vegas dancer who is now the owner of a pro-football team after her older husband dropped dead.

Making Ideas & Characters Your Own. I think all of my characters are unique. They’ve sprung from my imagination. But I doubt they would be as interesting if I hadn’t loved and laughed with these authors’ characters before I began creating my own.      

My Author Dreams Come True

By Linda Lovely

My author dreams don’t involve fame and wealth. Those “dreams” are better described as wild fantasies. While I’ve published seven books and been delighted by many of the reviews, the most important dreams I’ve fulfilled as an author simply require me to commit to writing the books I want to write.

I now write what I love to read—genre fiction. I spent most of my career writing PR and ad copy. It paid well and, for the most part, I enjoyed it. But I’ve always been a mystery/ suspense/ thriller fan and wanted to try my hand at creating the types of books I most enjoy. For me, that translates into books with likable heroines, who are smart, independent, and have a sense of humor. Of course, the books must include at least one murder (more is preferable). And the story must end with the villains getting their just desserts. I belong to a book club, which means I’m regularly exposed to “literary” fiction. While I appreciate its virtues, it’s not the escapist, fun reading I truly love—mysteries or thrillers with sides of humor and romance.  

 

My second dream come true involves the creation process. Research alone provides plenty of laughs. Recently, fact-finding endeavors have prompted me to join a goat yoga session, sample a variety of moonshine flavors, and test how long it would take me to pull up my pants and fully-loaded duty belt if I were a police officer who received an emergency call while visiting a restroom. My critique partners also make even the more painful parts of the creation process fun with their good humor. When they suspect one of my plots has gone off the rails, they’re kind about pointing out improbabilities.

Finally, my writing allows me to indulge in a bit of harmless secret revenge regarding the people I find most annoying. No, I don’t make them characters in my books. My villains are truly fictional. In fact, when I’m creating the physical appearance, background, and even the gender of my bad actors, I work very hard to ensure my characters in no way resemble the selfish, arrogant people who’ve inspired them. However, I draw heavily on the flaws and personalities of these individuals, who in real life often seem to face no consequences for hurting others. In my books, their virtual stand-ins pay the price. What a pleasure! 

Linda's newest release from Henery Press is PICKED OFF, a humorous mystery with plenty of romance and, of course, the villians pay! 

My Fantasy Life at the Writers’ Police Academy

By Linda Lovely

In this month’s blog, it was suggested we talk about something that’s happened in our lives during the past seven years that readers may not know about. 

For me, it’s my involvement with the annual Writers’ Police Academy (WPA). This summer will mark my sixth WPA visit—my fifth as a volunteer staffer who helps organize the event.

The WPA offers a thrilling four-day immersion in all things law enforcement. It’s held at a real, internationally-accredited police academy. That means the facilities include everything from tracks and autos for mastering car chase maneuvers and “burn” facilities for firefighter and EMS training to live-fire ranges for long gun instruction and buildings for mock SWAT searches. 

Instructors are the same folks who train the professionals who protect and serve in police departments, fire stations, and other law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The teachers include former undercover cops, Secret Service and ATF agents, forensic psychologists, experts in bioterrorism, gang violence, martial arts, drug interdiction, constitutional law, and more.

This year is the WPA’s 10th anniversary and Lee Lofland has pulled out all the stops to make it the best ever. The 2018 WPA will be held in Green Bay, Wisconsin, from August 9-12. WPA attendees can choose from dozens of courses and High-Intensity Training (HIT) hands-on training options. The program offers not only technical knowledge but insight into the emotions law enforcement professionals experience in stressful encounters.

Once you participate in a Shoot-Don’t-Shoot scenario, you have a new appreciation of the pressure of making split-second decisions about whether to fire a gun. Will action or inaction cost lives? When you take part in a mock SWAT raid to clear a building, you understand what it feels like to know an armed suspect could lurk behind any corner.

Since I started attending the WPA six years ago, each mystery/thriller I’ve written includes insights, inspiration and information gleaned at the Academy. Have I whet your appetite to join in? Each year, attendees include authors, screenwriters, translators, and people who simply enjoy reading mysteries, thrillers and suspense. To see the full WPA schedule for 2018, click on this link: www.writerspoliceacademy.com

To celebrate the June 5 release of PICKED OFF, my second humorous Brie Hooker Mystery, I’m offering a FREE Writers’ Police Academy registration. (The FREE registration prize does not include hotel or travel, and it must be a NEW registration.) 

You can enter the drawing anytime between now and noon EST June 9. Rafflecopter will randomly draw the winner: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92ed2c4c1/

Good Luck!

What Makes Me Smile?

By Linda Lovely

This month’s theme proved a delight. No research required. All I had to do was close my eyes and think. Thankfully my list appears to be very long. (I could have kept going, but decided I should stop before I bored you. I could have included lots more foods!)

Sure, the list of things that make me frown is lengthy, too. But I’m happy to report that on balance my smiles outnumber my frowns. Here’s a smile list (with some pictures) off the top of my head.  

• Kids—as in baby goats. Want to really laugh? Try goat yoga with a bunch of kids and nannies. 
• Any dessert with chocolate as a primary ingredient.
• A gas fireplace I can turn on with the flip of a switch when I’m chilled.
• My own klutziness, when it doesn’t land me in the hospital.
• Swimming and lazing in the lake right off my dock.
• Plump blueberries and tomatoes grown in our own backyard.
  
• The smell of cookies just out of the oven.
• An alarm clock that doesn’t need to be set.
• Leftovers I can pull from our freezer when I don’t want to cook.
• Reruns of favorite TV sitcoms from yesteryear—Cheers, Frasier, Taxi, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Lou Grant for starters.
• Authors who tickle my funny bone—Janet Evanovich, Carl Hiaasen, Susan Isaacs, Dave Barry, Cindy Sample, Robin Weaver…and dozens more.
• Flowers and bushes that bloom despite my criminal neglect.
• My husband, who invents creative, nonsense swearwords when things go awry and there are young’uns listening in.
• Critique partners who make me laugh at my own grammatical boo-boos. 
  

I'm happy for this reminder of all the little things that make life worth living.

When Being Lost in A Story-Isn’t A Good Thing

By Linda Lovely

Most of the time when I say I was lost in a story, I’m praising the book. I don’t want to turn out the lights because I’m into the book. I just have to turn the page and see what happens next.

But, there are times when I’m lost in a story that I want to do just the opposite—put the book down and never open it again. This happens when the author has confounded me—often unnecessarily—with poorly selected character names, story inconsistencies, and barely-mentioned characters popping up as the real killer in the final chapters.

CHARACTER NAMES.
Let’s start with character names. When I start reading a book, it takes a while for me to “know” characters and their roles in a story. Authors who insist on giving their characters similar names make that task all the more difficult. There are 26 letters in the alphabet, so why on earth would an author choose to name several of the main characters with names starting with say “D.” Dan…Don…Donna…Dena…Dora…Dennis…and the list goes on. (Belatedly, I sympathize with my mother who invariably called Don by the name Ron and vice versa when I made the mistake of simultaneously dating two young men with similar-sounding names.) 

STORY INCONSISTENCIES.
If someone has blue eyes in chapter one and brown eyes in chapter five, I somehow doubt that he’s picked up colored contacts. And that makes me wonder what else I should believe in the story. Similarly, it’s annoying if someone eats two lunches because the author forgot they had lunch in the last chapter. Character’s personal vehicles that transform from sedans into trucks without a visit to a dealership also raise my suspicions that the missing ingredient in the story is proofreading. Hey, I’m not saying that I haven’t made (or won’t) make similar mistakes. But if there are a multitude of such gaffs, then the author needs to get a new editor.

POP-UP VILLAINS.

I’m put out when a mystery reveals that the REAL killer is someone who was mentioned fleetingly in chapters three and five, but is unveiled as the killer without any intervening clues in chapter twenty. To me that’s cheating the reader, who likes to see if she can unravel the mystery along with the book’s main character.

So what takes you out of a story? Would love to hear your opinions—and, if I’m guilty of any annoyances, seek to reform my copy in my next endeavor.

Do Unto Others…and Yourself!

By Linda Lovely

This month’s theme is how to get through tough times. We all have them, and we all cope differently.  Here are my three strategies for tackling stress, sadness, frustration and/or anger.

(1)  Do something nice for someone else. Aid a nonprofit. Volunteer.

I wish I could say I tend to do one of these things as my first reaction. I can’t. But when I do take this more altruistic route, I always feel better. Helping someone else solve a problem is rewarding and takes your mind off your own problems. What does doing something nice for someone mean? I could be as simple as taking cookies to a friend who’s been ill or asking a recent widow/widower out to a movie or dinner. Of course, you shouldn’t be doing this to talk about your own troubles! Volunteer work for any organization with a cause you believe in is also therapeutic.  

(2)  Do something nice for yourself.
This is especially effective if I’m stressed or overwhelmed by deadlines. Take time out to treat yourself to something you really enjoy. For me, a massage is about the best relaxation, anti-stress option I can think of.

(3)  Write it out.
Not a surprising answer for an author. If I’m upset (okay, most often if I’m angry), I’ll write in great detail (often with multiple exclamation points) about what has triggered my wrath. The document may be a Letter to the Editor or it could be addressed to the person or group proposing some idiocy. Ninety-nine times out of 100, this letter goes in the trash. However, it is very effective in helping me blow off steam. (It also gives me great fodder for how one of my heroine’s might react given similar provocations.) There’s also the possibility that I’ll save the angry tome for later editing into a rational argument against whatever (in my opinion) idiocy is being suggested.

For me, the worst thing I can do when I’m upset is NOTHING. If I keep emotions bottled up, they just multiply and eat away at my happiness.

Recently, I was looking for a prize for a reader giveaway and came across a wishing ball. I’d never heard of one before, but I thought the idea was brilliant. The beautiful glass ball came with a pad of slips. Every day, you were encouraged to write something on a slip-- either a wish or something you were grateful for--and drop it inside the ball. This may be an excellent mental health aid—reminding ourselves every day of our blessings. There are real reasons for us to be sad or angry. But we can’t forget the wonder and joy of just being alive.  

STAR-CROSSED—Book Review Dilemmas

By Linda Lovely

I first posted a blog on the topic of book reviews in 2011. Six years later, the topic is more complicated—and aggravating—than ever as Amazon appears to be in another purge cycle.

The current complaint among authors? Amazon is purging reviews from individuals it has determined have social media ties to the authors. Given these links, the positive thumbs-up reviews must be biased.

The answer from authors? They use social media to communicate with and interact with their fan base—so, of course, cyber ties exist between them. That doesn’t mean the reviewers who have some social media link actually know or have even met the author in the flesh. And it certainly doesn’t mean their reviews are biased.

For authors, reviews are a numbers game. For a book to be eligible for various types of promotion, it needs a base number of reviews to appear “legitimate.” Also, the star ratings must be, shall we say, stellar, preferably with an average star rating of 4 ½ to 5. We (and by this I mean all authors who haven’t climbed into the top 10% of best sellers) need positive reviews.

That brings us to the second review dilemma: it’s those dang stars.

I’m in a book club. After we discuss each read, the moderator for the month asks us to rate the book on a five-star system: 5=I absolutely loved it. 4=I really liked it but it had some weakness. 3= I liked it and would recommend it to others. 2=I didn’t like it, but finished it. 1=I disliked it and didn’t finish it. This past month, we re-read Pat Conroy’s classic, The Prince of Tides. The individual ratings ranged from 5 to 2. Most of the books we read earn average ratings in the 3 to 3 ½ range. That means we’d recommend them to others. Often enthusiastically. Yet, a three-star rating would be a relatively “poor” showing on Amazon. 

The problem is that everyone who posts an Amazon review and assigns a star rating comes with a different idea of what those stars mean.

Should 5-stars be saved for only literary classics and never be awarded to excellent romance, mystery or other genre titles?  What if the writing is excellent but the plot has some holes? What if the suspense is gripping but the reader feels no emotional attachment to the heroine?

What individual readers see as defects are subjective. Some author friends, who write darker, gritty novels, complain constantly about “bad” reviews that give 1 or 2 stars because their books included bad language or sexual content—even though the description of the book clearly indicates it will include bad language and sex. So why did they read it, if that’s not what they like?

Not knowing how other people will interpret their personal star system, many people I know elect not to post a review—while others only post five star reviews for any book they’d recommend, making the ratings merely “You go, girl!” votes of support and encouragement.

I don’t have an answer to these problems. All I know is that I will continue to beg for reviews because I need them in quantity to succeed in this business.

So here are my questions for authors:

·         Do you encourage people to post reviews of your books?

·         Do you resent ratings that are less than five stars?

·         Would you rather have someone post a three-star positive review or no review at all?

And here are my questions for readers:

·                     Do you post reviews and/or assign stars?

·                     What prompts you to take the time to write a review?

·                     Does seeing posts from an author on social media influence your review?

P.S. I currently have 39 reviews for BONES TO PICK. My new humorous mystery, and I could sure use more!