The Magic of Books

One of my readers in New York’s Adirondacks, sent me this photo. She’s found her perfect spot on the shore of Lake Champlain to enjoy The Art of Murder.

That’s what’s magical about books. There are various ways to take your favorite author with you wherever you go. I just finished reading Richard Osman’s We Solve Murders. It’s different from his Thursday Murder Club books, as We Solve Murders is more in the thriller category. His character Amy is an enigma. She is likable and mysterious in that she is a contracted bodyguard with no qualm about killing if needed. Osman’s supporting characters are fully developed and I love their quirky personalities. I think we will be seeing more of this crew. Now I’m on to one of my favorite authors, Paula Munier. I love her character, Mercy Carr, and her dog, Elvis. The title is The Night Woods, and in this book, Mercy is ready to deliver her first child. But that doesn’t stop her from investigating the attack on her friend and a murder. I look forward to the journey Mercy and Elvis will take me on.

The Art of Murder

I can’t believe it has been a year since I've posted. Time to catch up! I’m excited to announce that my fifth book, The Art of Murder, was published in May. This book, originally titled Glenside, presented a number of challenges. As stated in the last post, the characters, Autumn Whitcomb and Yuri Rachinskij, were developed by patrons from two rural Upstate New York libraries. The patrons did a great job, and I am forever grateful to them for bringing me two interesting characters. Because of the differences in the characters, I had to work on some complicated plot lines. Officer Autumn Whitcomb was fairly easy to develop. She dealt with sexism and fraud in her North Carolina position while dealing with a failed relationship. Her character overcomes and grows when she is made a detective with a New York police department and is immediately faced with a murder to solve. Quickly. Ukrainian Yuri Rachinskij was the biggest challenge. I wanted him to be real, but without getting into the war. What would prompt him to leave his beloved National Archives and end up in the same New York town as Autumn? I worked through that challenge and came out with a winner. Whenever I finish a book, I wonder if anyone will like it. That’s the life of an author. This book resonated with readers right away. One reader wrote, “You've hit another one out of the park. Somehow, you manage to take current concerns and weave your characters through them into a tapestry that keeps us on the edge of our seats in suspense. Hope you have as much fun writing as we do reading.” The answer to that is, yes, it is great fun to be with my characters. You can find the book on Amazon:

Glenside, A Novel of Suspense

The book I started in October 2022 is in it's third draft editing process. With each read through I get deeper into the characters and the plot. I love these characters and I hope readers will too. Below is synopsis of the book. Detective Autumn Whitcomb is a mid-career cop caught between worlds—trying to fit into a new team in a new town. Before she can acclimate to her detective position with the Glenside, New York, police department, Autumn is assigned to investigate the mysterious death of the university’s archivist. During her investigation, she learns valuable artwork is missing from the archives. She feels the archivist’s death and the missing artwork are connected. But how? She is pressured to solve the case quickly as the university prepares for its centennial celebration—murder and missing art would discourage donors. But Autumn has to navigate the passions, intrigue, and power struggles inherent in academia while she figures out who murdered the archivist and if the art thefts are connected. Dr. Yuri Rachinskij, Director of the Ukrainian National Archives, faced serious problems. His country was at war and he was responsible for making sure the artifacts housed in the National Archives were safe. With missile strikes coming closer, threatening his family, staff, and the archives, the unimaginable happened. The Ukraine government sent Yuri to Glenside, New York, on a special mission. But his assignment is interrupted when he is considered the prime suspect in a murder investigation.

Meeting Colleagues

Last Thurday I had the pleasure of meeting a fellow Sister-in-Crime CT author Sharon Dukett. I learned that Sharon lives in Portland, CT, not too far from me. Sharon hosted a signing of her new book, The Shutdown List at a small local brewery, Hops on the Hill in South Glastonbury, CT. That brewery is very supportive of local authors and is a lovely location for a book signing. Sharon's first book, No Rules is a memoir of her hippy days in California. I am looking forward to reading that as well.

Feisty - a memoir in little pieces

My friend, Jean Peelen, has just published her memoir, Feisty, a memoir in little pieces. The title exactly describes this small powerfully written memior. The book measures 5 x 7" and each piece is no longer than two pages. But Jean successfully captured the most important periods of her life in these short succinct chapters. The back cover reads: "Feisty is the story of a woman with attitude - told in short reflections that capture a life of awakening activism. From her exploits as a five year old New Jersey cowboy, to hosting Gloira Steinem in Alabama, to an awkward drink with a young Clarence Thomas, Jean Peelen shares her civil rights journey and the most vulnerable moments in her life. This book is funny and sad, deep and wide. Feisty shines a light on what is possible when a woman rejects roles she is expected to fulfil and finds her own path." As a memoir writer I was interested to see her unique style of telling her story. The book pulled me in and kept me reading until the end. Right now Jean is doing a number of author visits in Washington, DC, where she worked for the federal government enforcing civil rights laws. And, she does not make it a secret that she did all this at the age of 82.

Autumn and Yuri - a new book in progress

I'm pleased to announce the good progress on a book I started exactly a year ago. This book was born from hybrid Zoom meetings at two rural Upstate New York libraries in mid-October 2022. At the end of each author presentation, I asked those in attendance, both at the library and on Zoom to develop a character. One library's patrons developed a man, Yuri, the other library's patrons developed a female that they named Autumn. They dictated a full bio of each character and when they were done, I thought - I can make a book incorporating these two characters. I ran with their characters, and it has been great fun. Autumn's bio stated she started as a police officer in North Carolina, but got fed up with the politics and moved to New York State. Yuri is Ukrainian (the woman who named him said his last name began with an "R"). He was head of their national archives, and the patrons gave me many of his qualities, like he has a good sense of humor. It's been interesting and sometimes challenging to further develop the storyline around these two characters, but it is coming together as they both meet in a university town in the Finger Lakes Region. With a university setting their is much to work with: politics, passions, creative minds, turf wars. Of course there's a crime involed, actually more than one, and Yuri ends up being the prime suspect. I'll do my best to get him out of this bind. As of now, he has had to give up his passport until the investigations are finished. I'm thankful for the Sisters-in-Crime, Connecticut Chapter for having their twice weekly write-ins. That gives me dedicated writing time with other SinC members.

Let's Go! A Guide to Increasing Your Confidence - by Emily Jaenson

When I get an email with the subject line: "I Wrote a Book," it gets my attention. The note was from the daughter-in-law of one of my husband's work colleagues. The author of Let's Go! is Emily Jaenson and I suspect you will be hearing more about her. Her book, available in Spring 2024, is titled: "Let's Go! A Guide to Increasing Your Confidence." "Let’s go! A Guide to Increasing Your Confidence: How to go from too shy to order a pizza to unstoppable. By practicing the right behaviors, you can change your attitude over time and grow into a more confident, goal directed person. This book lights the way." In her TedX talk, Emily shares her journey from being very shy to being the only female general manager of a Triple-A baseball team, the Reno Aces. Emily's TedX talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IitIl2C3Iy8 has had over 2.7M views. Her story point out that everyone, especially young women, can have the confidence to succeed. Emily also has a podcast, so if you want to learn more, check her out.