The Silver Rush Mysteries

Real People in Mercury's Rise

2011-11-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Ann Parker, on the second day of a two-week (plus a bit) virtual tour for Mercury's Rise, the newest book in the Silver Rush series.

Today is a "home stop" at my own blog, which features random musings on writing, history, mystery, or whatever crosses my mind. This time (rubbing hands together gleefully), I'm going to talk about using real people in my latest mystery.

Now, there are several kinds of "real" people. There are the people who existed in that time and place. There are a few of that kind wandering through the pages, including Colorado photographer Anna Galbreaith, who is a source of curiosity and mystery to me (I would *love* to know more about her and her life). I do know she was a landscape photographer in Manitou, Colorado, during the mid-1880s and also ran a boarding house called the Ohio House. Since she signed her photographs "Mrs. Anna Galbreaith," I assume she was a widow... or possibly a divorcée? You can read more about Anna and see an example of her work here in a post I did yesterday to kick off this virtual tour. Other people of the day are mentioned in Mercury's Rise: William Palmer Jackson (founder of Colorado Springs and the Denver & Rio Grande) and Dr. William Bell (founder of Manitou Springs).

The real Robert Calder

But the real people I REALLY had fun with are folks I know in the present day world of 2011, who gave permission for me to use their names. In two cases, these folks "won" the honor of appearing in the story. Robert Calder (an artist who does wonderful watercolors that capture Leadville's past) had his name pulled out of a hat to appear as a character in the book. You can read a little about Bob and his work in this online article from Colorado Magazine. It seemed a natural fit to make Robert a plein-air artist, who is visiting Manitou with more than painting on his agenda. Sharon Crowson is a mystery reader and fan who has "been dying" (so to speak) to appear in a Silver Rush book. A bribe of chocolate did the trick, and she's there in the pages of Mercury's Rise, with a slightly different first name.

The real Dr. Prochazka

Dr. Aurelius Prochazka is a bona fide doctor... but not of medicine. You can get the gist of his claim to the Dr. title from this on his website: "Aure began his career at the California Institute ofTechnology analyzing the aerodynamic stability of the F-117AStealth Fighter and worked on computational fluid dynamics for his PhDthesis." Aure is a scientist, a musician, and an author in his own right. I've worked with Aure, and from those earliest days was just itching to steal his name (and some of his "renaissance man" personality) and plunk him down in 1880. He was a good sport about the whole thing when I asked (hopefully, he still is, now that the book is published!).

Finally, there are the Paces. While I was working with Aure, I also worked with Kirsten Pace and her husband Eric Cummings. I decided it would be fun to put Kirsten and her family (kids and all) in the story. She was fine with that, even after I gave her a much older, cantankerous husband (WHO IS NOT YOU, ERIC. Just want to make that clear. You appear at the end as a nice guy.) Kirsten just finished reading the book the other day and said she enjoyed it (well, she'd better say that! ;-) ) and then added it was odd to see her name crop up page after page after page... Just one of the hazards of being a key character in a novel!

There are shades of other "real people" in some of the continuing characters in my series. My protagonist, Inez Stannert is named after my grandmother. (You can read a bit about her and why she ended up my protagonist in another guest post here on Gayle Gresham's Colorado Reflections blog.) Doctor Cramer embodies elements of my own father, a kindly physician with a real knack for listening to his patients. Susan Carothers has a spirit much like a dear friend of mine from childhood, also named Susan, who like my fictional character forged a life to match her inner passions.

And then... there are those real people whom I shadow in darkness, twist their genders and their names, and gleefully make them murderers or victims and do horrible things to them (in fiction!) because at some point in my life they really ticked me off or hurt someone I loved. But I'm not going to say anything more about them. They will remain a mystery. ;-)
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St. Louis: Bouchercon and Gooey Butter Cake

2011-09-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

I recently returned from the big annual mystery fest known as Bouchercon. It moves, year to year, so every time I attend I get to visit a new place. This year (2011), it was in St. Louis.

St. Louis! The Gateway Arch! The monument to westward expansion!

Alas, though, I didn't experience the Arch.

But I did experience Gooey Butter Cake, which left a huge impression on me. Granted, not as big an impression as an impromptu Poisoned Pen Press author dinner-a-thon, or a wonderful meeting with mystery reviewer Teresa Jacobsen who loved Mercury's Rise and said so in Library Journal ... but still a pretty big impression.

Big enough, it turns out, that it was the only photograph I took while in St. Louis:

My roomie, author Kathleen Ernst and I were determined to taste this uniquely St. Louis dish. Determined enough to set out Sunday morning, in the rain, in an ever-increasing spiral around the conference hotel, in search of a place that served gooey butter cake.

We found it, ordered it, devoured it. (Yes, the photo does kind of take the suspense out of this announcement, I know.) We had, specifically, raspberry lemon gooey butter cake. I wasn't sure what to expect from my first bite, but WOW! Extreme-sugar rush, is how I'd sum it up. Sugar, lots of it, and butter. A hint of lemon and really really sweet raspberry jam. I could feel the stuff sing in my teeth, hit my veins, and race straight to my brain. Strong coffee was required to temper the hit.

Back home again, I became curious. Does this stuff have a history?

Well, of course it does! Right here on the Helfer's Pastry site, and right here on What's Cooking America. I love the following description, penned on Helfer's Pastry page:

What starts off innocently enough as a plain yeast-raised coffeecake, erupts into a volcanic mass of chewy bright yellow lava, with snow banks of confectioners sugar covering crescenta and crevices. In the mouth, the goo clogs the gums, while the crusty edges glue to the teeth. You don't just swallow gooey butter cake, you work it down.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

It apparently originated in St. Louis during the 1930s or 1940s, when a German baker added the wrong amounts of some ingredients and the inside of his coffee cake turned into a gooey, pudding-like filling. The sites provide a couple stories of the origin, and the What's Cooking America site features a recipe taken from I'll Have What They're Having - Legendary Local Cuisine.

Enjoy!

And the winners are....

2011-07-12T11:41:00.000-07:00

... for the "Women in a Man's World" guest post by author Camille Minichino:

Susan S
Jan L
Patty A

Thank you all for stopping in and reading Camille's "stage stop" here at the Silver Rush Mysteries blogsite!

Women in a Man's World

2011-07-02T01:03:00.000-07:00

Please welcome my special guest today: Author Camille Minichino, talented mystery writer, who goes by many names. Camille Minichino is the author of three mystery series, beginning with her Periodic Table Mysteries. Her akas are Margaret Grace (The Miniature Mysteries) and Ada Madison (The Professor Sophie Knowles Mysteries). The first chapter of 'The Square Root of Murder," debuting July 5, is on her website: http://www.minichino.com

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I seem to be turning all phases of my life into mystery series. My husband is worried that he'll be featured (or fictitiously murdered) soon.

My newest protagonist, Professor Sophie St. Germain Knowles, teaches math at a small New England college, eerily similar to my own alma mater and former place of employment. When she's not helping the local police solve murders, she creates puzzles and brainteasers for magazines and hangs out with her medevac pilot boyfriend and an offbeat beading friend, Ariana.

The setting is contemporary, but Sophie has a two hundred year history, you might say. I named her after the great Sophie St. Germain (1776-1831), who made breakthrough contributions to mathematics in the form of number theory and the theory of elasticity.

Fifty years before Ann Parker's Inez Stannert became a businesswoman and took her place among the saloon owners and poker players in Leadville, Colorado, Sophie St. Germain was trying to make her own way in a man's world.

Women were not admitted to the schools and studies Sophie craved, so she created a new identity. Just as Inez sometimes resorts to wearing men's clothing to better accomplish her mission, Sophie used a man's name on her technical papers and letters. As Monsieur LeBlanc, Sophie corresponded with the great male mathematicians of the time, including Lagrange, Legendre, and Gauss.

Some continued to admire her work even after learning that M. LeBlanc was a woman; others were not so enlightened.

In spite of her widely known achievements, Sophie St. Germain's death certificate lists her not as mathematician or scientist, but as a rentier (property holder).

Maybe that was high praise for a woman 180 years ago.

There's no indication that "the ridicule attached to a female scientist" (Sophie St. Germain's own words) has completely passed, as we know from the failure of the ERA and the data on gender and salary.

What's a girl to do?

One idea: continue to write strong, intelligent female protagonists, like Inez Stannert, and, I hope, Gloria Lamerino, Geraldine Porter, and Sophie Knowles.

Many years ago I read a mystery series that featured a female English professor at a major university. I loved it. I reread one of the books as I prepared to write my new series.

Much to my surprise, the book that I'd remembered so fondly was merely a blatant protest against the sexist workings of the university faculty, thinly disguised as a mystery. The protagonist stands up at meeting after meeting and rants about her treatment and the discriminatory practices at the university. Her monologues go on for three or four pages at a time, without interruption, throughout the "novel."

I put the book down and could hardly believe I'd once loved it. But it was a different era. That very successful, groundbreaking series would never fly today.

Now it seems best to try to bring about awareness of women's place in the world in a way that's not heavy-handed.

Professor Sophie Knowles is my most recent attempt to portray a normal, likeable woman who also happens to be a mathematician, as Inez is a likeable woman and also a strong and clever businessperson.

In fact, Sophie is such fun, she's offering a math-related prize to three readers of The Silver Rush Mysteries blog. Send an email to camille@minichino.com by midnight July 10, with SILVERMATH in the subject line, and be entered into the drawing.

Thanks for letting me visit, Ann! It's an honor to hang out with the award-winning Inez!

About to absquatulate, but first: Western Slang

2011-06-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

I'll be heading out to the Historical Novel Society's conference in San Diego to do a little jawing and yammering and pick up some good reading as well. In the meantime, here's a great little site for Western slang and phrases.
Curious as to what "absquatulate" means? Look it up and find out! And here are a couple of other fun terms:

Among the willows
Clitchy
Galvanized Yankees
Nobbish
Molocher

And, to follow up on the previous mustache post below, here is a lovely photo of my mustache socks.

Now aren't they just fine as cream gravy??

Mustaches of the past

2011-05-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

Now that Mercury's Rise, the fourth of the Silver Rush historical mystery series, is well and truly done, I've time to turn attention to this rather neglected blog (blows virtual dust off).

In this latest installment of the ever-continuing Silver Rush saga, protagonist Inez Stannert and her friend, photographer Susan Carothers, travel to Manitou (sometimes called Manitou, sometimes Manitou Springs). The intent of the trip is for Inez to re-unite with her much-missed young son and her sister. Most of my posts here will focus on bits and pieces of research for the story. (I'll not promise all posts, because one must leave room for serendipity.)

I shall begin with mustaches, because... well, because I want to. And because the World Beard and Moustache Championships just finished. (Thank you, author Sarah Smith, for mentioning this momentous event on Facebook.) The connection to Mercury's Rise follows...

One of the characters in this newest book, Terrance Epperley, is a young British remittance man who sports a "facespanner" mustache.

When I started the draft, I could see this fellow clear as day in my mind's eye. His mustache extended straight along the horizontal, from one side of his face to the other, fierce in its impeccable grooming.

Can you picture it?

Now, I had no idea that this particular facial decoration was a well-known and documented style until I stumbled across the wonderful blog Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century (isn't the internet amazing??). Here, I found explanations, terms, and photos for the mustache I envisioned and many more besides. The blogger was (I use past tense, because, alas, the last post was in 2010) meticulous in keeping his/her list of classifications up-to-date, so you can search "facespanner" (I've done it for you here) and view some truly amazing photographs of facespanner mustaches of the past.

If you want to know what (the fictional) Terrance Epperley's mustache looks like I commend you to the 2007 post Straight and True, which features the image below:

Leaden Skies now Kindle-ized

2010-08-06T21:12:00.001-07:00

It's a winning hand!

Leaden Skies joins Silver Lies and Iron Ties on Kindle. Leaden Skies also comes in an Audible Audio edition.
And... here's an interesting hiccup: You can find a less expensive Kindle edition of Iron Ties on amazon, mistitled Iron Tears. Not sure how that happened, but if you want to save yourself a dollar and four cents, check it out.

I write like...

2010-07-14T17:08:00.001-07:00

I read about the "I write like" site on author Mark Coggins' blog site—Riordan's Desk, and just had to try it for my own books.

First up, the opening two pages from Silver Lies:

I write like
Mary Shelley

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Well, that's interesting. How about the opening to Iron Ties?

I write like
Vladimir Nabokov

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Really?
Okay, let's try Leaden Skies:

I write like
Vladimir Nabokov

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Nobokov gain??
That's pretty strange. The only thing I've read by Nabokov is Lolita, a novel that made/makes me wince. However, Wikipedia says that Lolita "exhibit(s) the love of intricate word play and synesthetic detail that characterised all his works." I like word play, definitely, and synesthetic detail gets a thumbs up from me.

Time for an experiment.

For the first evaluation of Silver Lies (above), I'd put in just a portion of the prologue. Let's try the whole prologue (luckily, I have all the beginnings for all of my books available to read on my website. Makes copy/paste easy). To my surprise, adding those extra pages nixes Mary Shelley and instead...

I write like
James Joyce

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Now that's a bit daunting.
I surely hope they mean James Joyce as in The Dubliners, and not James Joyce as in Ulysses (a book one needs a map, a trail of string, and a course in Joyce to figure out).

Okay. I have Book Four underway. Gotta check that out.
(I'm almost afraid to do this.)
Let's try the first chapter. (Please, oh please, not some incredibly hard-to-read author of the distant past...)

I write like
Kurt Vonnegut

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Hmmmm. My experience with Silver Lies makes me leery of this pronouncement, based as it is on just a few pages.
I decide to plug in the first three chapters, and see what happens.

I write like
Kurt Vonnegut

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I guess that means my writing is consistent for Book #4, at least throughout the beginning. I like Vonnegut... or did, when I read him (a long time ago now). Wikipedia describes his "voice" as "characterized by wild leaps of imagination and a deep cynicism, tempered by humanism." I'm not sure why Book #4 brings up Vonnegut instead of Mary Shelley/James Joyce/Vladimir Nabokov. But the words flow and the book takes shape, almost apart from me. Or as Vonnegut said: "So it goes."

Oh woe... hairstyles circa 1880 leads to amazon shopping spree

2010-07-11T00:24:00.000-07:00

I shouldn't be doing this after midnight...
But I had to dress Inez appropriately for venturing out of her hotel room in Manitou, Colorado, on a fine summer morning in August 1880. And, as often happens when I'm faced with such a requirement, I scurried first to my bookcase, and thence to the internet.
Thus was my doom sealed. It all went something like this:

Ah ha! On this nifty site I see that, yes, I can have Inez struggle to capture her shoulder-length hair in a French twist.
All well and good.
And wow, there are a lot of neat hairstyles here for 1881. That's pretty darn close to summer 1880... I better bookmark this site...
Oh hey, look at the bottom of the page: I have THREE of the books listed! (Now that makes me feel pretty good...) But, hmmm. Here's one I don't have: Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900. I can't believe that I don't have this... Well, I'll order it. Hmmm. I can get it in combination with Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs. I bet they have some good stuff on looking at the details in old photographs....

Before I'm done, I've ordered four books in all, nearly a hundred dollars' worth, and made two return trips to my bookshelves, scanning for Dressed for the Photographer. I really have the sneaking feeling I've got this book somewhere. How could I not?? It's been around since 1997 and is right up my alley, so to speak.

Okay, now back to the scene and the critical bit of dialogue it's all leading to. I'll tell you, though, if I find that book in my shelves tomorrow, I am going to be mighty pissed.

Downtown Denver, 1900

2010-07-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

... Continuing a little side journey down history from my family's past, I decided to look for photos of downtown Denver in the early 1900s, about the time my paternal grandparents would have met, courted, and married. These are links to the Denver Public Library's digital image collection, as there are various hoops to jump through (and serious money must exchange hands) in order for me to display the images themselves.

http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?20001047+CHS-L1047 Check out this charmer: Nighttime view of a statue of an elk, displayed as part of the Elks Club convention, on possibly 15th (Fifteenth) Street in Denver, Colorado, possibly taken between 1900 and 1915.
http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?20004418+CHS.X4418 Rooftop view of brick and stone buildings in downtown Denver, Colorado. Shows the central stone tower of Union Station and commercial buildings between 14th (Fourteenth) and 15th (Fifteenth) Streets on Lawrence and Larimer Streets. I like the "Watch for the Lucky Key" sign. Very mysterious. April 1909.
http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?10023791+X-23791 It's a parade! With bicycles! In a very rutted road! 1900-1910.
http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?20001875+CHS-L1875 Newspaper boys with their papers, on a winter's day. Extra, extra, read all about it!
http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?10023771+X-23771 Wow... I love this one. Women in a marching band, playing trombones and... are those tubas? Great hats. On 17th Street turning on California. Between 1900 and 1910.

Elitch's Gardens, 1900

2010-07-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July!
Time to dust off the blog. I'm thrashing through the early section of book#4 in the series, but find myself distracted from researching neurasthenia and nervous exhaustion by, of all things, Elitch's Gardens in Denver "as it was" around 1900.
Too early for the Silver Rush series, alas.... But, according to family legend, this is where the real Inez Stannert (my paternal grandmother) first met William W. Parker (my paternal grandfather). What was the Gardens like back then, I wondered.
Well, I found some wonderful digital images at the Denver Public Library's Western History and Genealogy Department. Unfortunately, I cannot reproduce them here (copyright issues and all), but the links are below:

http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?00071059+MCC-1059 Entrance to Elitch's Gardens, 1909 or so
http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?00071235+MCC-1235 Shady Lane in the Gardens
http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?00071233+MCC-1233 Vine-covered arbor in the Gardens, 1900-ish
http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?00071234+MCC-1234 Miniature train in the Gardens
http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?00071226+MCC-1226 Entrance to the Gardens' theatre, 1900 (check out the dresses! and all the straw summer "boater" hats!)

Enjoy!

Leadville, February 1880: Beware of Big Ed Burns

2010-02-09T21:32:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a break from the daily grind and from blasting anonymous blog spammers into oblivion to revisit Leadville of the past. There may not have been obnoxious spammers in Leadville of February 1880, but there were plenty of con men and so-called "bummers," including Big Ed Burns, who was described by the Carbonate Chronicle thusly:

. . . His strength was something terrible, and his deep chest was a human embodiment of Hercules . . . but with all his massiveness of frame he was agile and quick as a ballet dancer. Standing by the bar in a saloon he prided himself upon the fact that he could kick a man’s hat off with a single sweep of his foot. . . .

Burns did anything to make money, and as he seldom had the cash to engage in any of what are termed square gambling schemes, he earned a precarious livelihood by “skingames.” The old Theatre Comique was his favorite haunt. In a little side room known as “the joint,” many is the honest miner whom Big Ed robbed by dice, bunko or crooked poker. A cabinet of mineral specimens in one corner was always the pretext under which the victim was enticed into the den, and the gigantic form of the swindler did not make it desirable for the “sucker” to kick very loud or long.

. . . Might was right, muscle was master, and wherever brute strength was needed, Big Ed was called upon. The quieting effect that his massive form had upon a crowd, was something not readily expressed in words, and when he leaped into a wrangling circle of men, flung a chair out of the window, and said: “Let there be peace,” the silence was painful.

Several interesting bits emerge from this. First, newspapers are great for identifying slang, i.e., the term "the joint." According to the online etymology dictionary:

... Slang meaning of "place, building, establishment" (esp. one where persons meet for shady activities) first recorded 1877, Amer.Eng., from an earlier Anglo-Irish sense (1821), perhaps on the notion of a side-room, one "joined" to a main room. The original U.S. sense was especially of "an opium-smoking den.

It's also interesting that the poker was crooked, but apparently not the dice nor the bunko. Add to that, apparently Big Ed was employed to keep the peace. Seems it was a common practice to hire thugs as necessary. A big thug no doubt commanded respect and compliance from the "rougher element."

Hmmm. Could be fun to employ a "Big Ed" type of person in some future Silver Rush tale. I'll have to remember that. Too bad there isn't a virtual Big Ed to take take of the anonymous posters of annoying comments to this blog! I'd even suffer a virtual chair through the virtual window to silence them.

Late night dining, 1880s ... or pass the Alka-Seltzer

2010-01-16T22:12:00.001-08:00

I recently received an email from a reader of Leaden Skies, who asked:

I am interested in the late hour of the dinners and receptions. Was it normal to hold such events at 10 or 11 PM?

And indeed, Leaden Skies features a couple of late night gastronomic events. I pretty slavishly adhere to what's reported in the newspapers of the day, so can assure you that yes indeed, what appears in the book is accurate. One example is the banqueet held for Ulysses S. Grant during his five-day visit to Leadville in July 1880. The newspapers covered this event in great detail—from the decorations, to the menu, to the speeches afterward (which went on. and on.). The article even includes the hour at which the feasting began (emphasis below is mine):

The dining-room was gorgeously arrayed in evergreens,
flags and flowers. On the east and west walls hung paintings
of General Grant, surrounded with wreaths and evergreens.
Two long parallel tables ranged down each side of the hall,
a third forming at right angles at the head, near the
entrance of the dining-room, capable of seating two hundred
and fifty persons. As the doors of the large dining hall were
thrown open to the guests, sometime after 11 o’clock, the
tables were revealed in all their splendor of culinary decorations—
if this term may be applied—fairly groaning under
their load of delicacies and decorating devices, formed of the
rarest of confections and by the greatest skill, while
arranged in stately order about the tables, were eighteen
waiters in charge of Mr. William McClellan.
As the guests entered the hall, with General Grant in
charge, they were assigned seats at the banquet tables.
The band occupying a position at the head of the banquet,
played an appropriate selection. The banquet was then formally
opened.

So, a couple of hundred people had to file in, be seated, be served ... I'd guess the meal lasted into the wee hours of the morning (2 a.m., maybe?). And we know that the speeches went on for quite a while after that, given how this particular reporter concludes his story:

...By this time the hour had advanced close upon morning.
The feast was over and the speech-making ceased. The General
arising from his chair at the banquet was the signal for
all to retire; and soon the hall was cleared, and the merry
feasters were wending their way homeward just as the gray
light of dawn was lining the eastern sky.

(Of course, at this point, I wondered, "What time was sunrise?" After thrashing around on the internet a bit, I found a site where I could at least determine the sunrise time in Denver, Colorado, on July 24, 1901 (the year 1880 was outside the range of calculation)— 5:50 a.m. So, I'd guess the guests were staggering/straggling home in Leadville, July 24, 1880, sometime around 5 a.m., give or take.

The question remains: Is this late-night dining hour normal??

For more insight, I turned to the arbiter of all things cultural and mannerly for this timeframe (at least, for me): Our Deportment or the Manners, Conduct and Dress of the Most Refined Society by John H. Young, A.M. In the "Receptions, Parties and Balls" chapter, he says this about supper for balls:

The supper-room at a ball is thrown open generally at twelve o-clock.

According to the book, the sort of repast you'd be facing as the clock struck midnight would probably include the following:

The hot dishes are oysters, stewed, fried, broiled and scalloped, chicken, game, etc., and the cold dishes are such as boned turkey, boeuf a la mode, chicken salad, lobster salad and raw oysters.

Ooof! The most I can handle past 11 p.m. is warm Ovaltine and toast.

In any case, thank you, dear reader, for your question, because I had a lot of fun delving into the answer! Now, I'm off to make my Ovaltine...

Welcome to the new decade: 1880!

2010-01-12T21:30:00.000-08:00

As we roll from the twenty-aughts to the twenty-teens (or whatever we call this new decade), I've decided to continue my focus back through time in Leadville.

So, here we go.

1879 is over. 1880 (and a new decade!) begins. What was Leadville up to in the early part of January? Well, just as we throw out our old calendars and spruce up the place (and our files) to take on new projects, Leadville decided "out with the old and in with the new," by passing Ordinance 88.

Ordinance 88 changed the name of some of the main streets and instituted a new numbering system for all the city's buildings.

A sample of some of the name changes:
Infamous State Street became Second Street (although the 100 block of West Second Street, where the fictional Inez Stannert has her fictional Silver Queen saloon, continued to be referred to as "State Street" despite the name change).
Main Street became Third Street.
Lafayette and Park Streets (the same street but called by different names, depending which side of Harrison Avenue they landed on) became Fourth Street.
Carbonate and Fifth became simply Fifth Street.
... and so on.

A January 21, 1880, article in Leadville's Evening Chronicle ran a long retrospective piece on real estate (observe here that they used the old street names, not the new):

Real estate operations in Leadville since January 1st, 1879,
have furnished something for the world to wonder at. At that
time there was nothing in the way of business on any street
save Chestnut, between Harrison avenue and Spruce, State
between Pine and Harrison, and Harrison between Chestnut
and State. The brick building of the Star clothing house,
at the southeast corner of State and Harrison, was the outpost
of the business field. North of it the avenue was a
mudsill alley, full of low hovels, stumps, trees and debris. In
fact it was a sort of dumping place for rubbish and filth. Lots
were slow of sale at $100 to $200, between State and Park
streets. In November, 1878, the entire half block facing on
Harrison, bounded by State and Main streets, and running
back to the alley between the avenue and Pine street, was
offered to the proprietors of THE CHRONICLE for four hundred
dollars....

By 1880, all that had changed:

South of the postoffice [at 320 Harrison] . . . to Elm street, lots
of twenty-five feet frontage are held at $5,000 to $8,000 each.
One man asks $10,000 for his lot, but this is an exception.
North of the postoffice, or between Lafayette avenue and the
base of Capitol Hill, prices range from $3,000 down to $1,200.

Easy to see why lot-jumpers proliferated in late 1879!

Early 1880, to be continued. Until then, wishing you:

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Leadville, 1879

2009-12-27T18:34:00.000-08:00

As we all wallow under a surfeit of HD TVs, iPods, iPhones, MP3 players, Play Stations, XBoxes, Nintendo DSs, BlueRay videos, and an abundance of electronic games and geegaws, let's take a pause and reflect on what was available for the discerning shopper in Leadville for the 1879 Christmas season, in some tidbits gathered from the newspapers of the time by Griswold and Griswold in their magnificent historical tome: The History of Leadville and Lake County, Colorado. And remember as you read this list: There were no trains to Leadville yet. Everything had to be hauled in ... and there was lots and lots of snow to contend with. There were, apparently, some folks with lots and lots of money as well.

Holiday Goods.
B.F. Allen & Co. Invite the special attention of Ladies and Miners, who are in search of Goods suitable for Presents to their Friends both in Leadville and the East and South, to their recent importation of NOVELTIES. Our Stock comprises: English Silk Handkerchiefs, Silk Suspenders, French Jewelry, English Neckwear, Fine Buck Glove, Lined, Fine Lap Robes, French Clocks, Ladies Neckwear, Lined Mitts, Pocketbooks, Etc.

The Griswolds noted that none of the advertisements included prices (most which read rather like the one above, so B.F. Allen didn't have a lock on the imported stuff). However, Daniels, Fisher & Company did included some prices for their wares:

... All wool suits sell from $15 to $25; wool and silk combination suits from $25 to $50; combination street costumes from $35 to $65; silk dresses from $35 to $75, and a general variety of black silk velvet and ratine suits, ranging in price from $40 to $175 each, and some elegant parlor dress suits from $175 to $200 each.

Sounds like a good deal, right? Well, consider that $15 in 1879 had the same "purchase power" as $333.98 today. So, that "cheap" wool suit is really more like $340. And, the "elegant parlor dress suit" at $200 would cost you $4453.01 today. That's how many Dell laptops?

Anyway, to get an idea of how prices of "long ago" compare to prices today, I suggest checking out the "Measuring Worth" website and the page Purchasing Power of Money in the United States from 1774 to 2008. Rather mind-boggling.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Leadville 1879 - Part 3

2009-12-21T22:48:00.000-08:00

A skating rink opened between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 1879, and this little article describing a "night at the rink" ran in Leadville's Evening Chronicle on December 23:

It was a gala night time at the skating rink last night, and the bravery and beauty of the city paired off on runners and told their loves in innumerable hieroglyphics on frozen water. Occasionally a “brave” would sit down on the ice in contemplation of love’s melancholy, while his fair inamorata slid on into the affections or arms of another. We had no idea that we had so many expert skatorical champions and championnesses among us, and could but wonder at the many seemingly impossible feats performed.

Speaking of pedal extremities, “the biggest thing on ice” was the great feet of a certain newspaper reporter, who executed some of the most startling movements yet seen at the rink—such as throwing both heels over his head and sliding half round the rink on his left ear, picking up a section of snow and gas light with the small of his back, skating on one foot and the tip of his nose, and many other little novelties. . . . We understand that the skating rink is shortly to be supplied with a new appliance in the way of a third skate for new beginners. It is supplied with a rubber cushion, and is fastened to the small of the back.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Leadville 1909

2009-12-19T00:07:00.000-08:00

Ooooh, I just found the "live webcam" for Leadville on the home page of the Herald Democrat newspaper (look in the upper left corner of the site). It's dark and snowy out there right now, nearly midnight on December 18. But hey, I'm warm and cozy here at home with a little heater at my feet. Still, wish I was in Leadville instead (with the heater, of course).
But lucky me, I'm not suffering the fate of two fellows on December 10, 1909 (100 years ago), as recounted in the December 10, 2009, edition of Leadville's Herald Democrat. I won't quote it in its entirety, but will give you the headlines and the set-up of the story:

Soft Snow His Shroud
Finnish Miner Crossing Mosquito Range with Partner Sinks From Exhaustion

Jack Frost wrapped his subtle drapery around another human on the mountain side Wednesday night and the man lay quietly down and entered his eternal sleep, the unsunned snow furnishing his winding sheet.

Matti Sarasto, a Finlander, aged 32, was the victim. Jan Syrien, his companion, struggled through and escaped with his life though one arm was badly frozen.

It's a weird thing and a strange experience, this struggle with the silent frost king. Strong and sturdy men wooed to sleep, lulled to a sense of security when the danger is the greatest...

From this poetic beginning, the story unwinds of two men who decided to return to Leadville from Alma by crossing the range, rather than taking the train (the train, they decided, was too expensive). That decision took the life of one and the other was lucky to get back to town with a frostbitten arm.

A sobering reminder from a century ago of how easy it is for Nature to sneak up on us, even as we think we've got everything "under control." Unfortunately, that sense of control is mostly an illusion.

For all of you traveling hither and yon this holiday, travel with care.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Leadville 1879 - Part 2

2009-12-06T17:53:00.000-08:00

... Well, I promised more about the opening of the Grand Central variety theatre in Leadville in my last post, so here it is. These bits and pieces are taken from a follow-up article that appeared a while later, and provide a more detailed description of the place as a whole:

THE PLEASURE PALACE OF THE FRONTIER
———
The Largest and Most Magnificent Variety
Theatre in the United States.
———
A Temple of Wine, Women and Song
———
....The building is of brick and lumber combined, well keyed and stayed with iron rods, and is pronounced by the architects of the city as the most substantial structure in the place. It has a frontage of seventy-three feet on State street, is one hundred and thirty-five feet front to rear, forty-six feet from floor to roof, and three stories high—being very much the largest building in the city. The total cost is $38,000. Half of the lower floor is devoted to orchestra chairs, and the remainder furnished with raised seats, thus giving a full view of the stage from every part of the house.... The seating capacity of the boxes, gallery and auditorium is two thousand five hundred. ...Three saloons and bars—two upstairs and one on the first floor—with polite and attentive barkeepers, and PRETTY WAITING MAIDS by the score, supply the wants of guests, whether the order be for the finest wines, or the more practical drinks of the West. Down stairs, running parallel with the theatre room, but entirely separate, is a club room, or sportsman hall, 20 feet wide by 100 feet in length, where the devotees of the green cloth may find the chances combined in all games known to the sporting fraternity....

Sounds like quite the place, perfect for extracting coin from the pockets of any who are looking for entertainment of one type or another. My protagonist, Inez Stannert, might well look upon the three saloons and bars and the "club room" with some envy (even while she would no doubt eschew the pretty waiter maids).

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Leadville 1879

2009-12-01T21:45:00.000-08:00

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas 1879 is of particular interest to me, being that this is when the tale of Silver Lies begins. According to The History of Leadville and Lake County, Colorado, the Tabor Opera House, newly opened but a short while before, was clipping along with performances of The Long Branch, The Rich of New York, The Two Orphans, and more. In addition, Thomas Kemp’s new variety theater, the Grand Central, opened on December 10th. The December 11, 1879, edition of the Leadville Chronicle had this to say:

Although this immense building yet lacks much of completion both outside and in, it was thrown open to the public last evening as announced. Hundreds of our citizens visited it for the first time on this occasion . . . . it is without doubt the largest and best arranged variety theatre in the entire West . . . . The place is already brilliantly lighted with gas, and we are informed by Mr. Kemp that only about one-half of the number of jets have been put in. Although well lighted, the heating of the place was a miserable failure. It was simply bitter cold in the boxes, on the stage and every nook and corner, save within a few feet of the stoves in front, and audience, actors and management shivered and trembled as if with ague. Many left the house before the entertainment was over solely on this account. It was simply a huge game of “freeze out,” in which the clerk of the weather held the winning hand. Mr. Kemp promises to remedy this by putting in more stoves to-day.

I found a number of things intriguing in this passage: The numbers of people (!hundreds!) that showed up on opening night (a Wednesday). The gaslights, already installed. The intense cold. The description of the cold is a reminder to me that, even in those public places crammed with people, the chill of a Leadville winter was difficult to overcome.

More about the Grand Central in my next post.

Thanksgiving, Leadville (Soda Springs) 1879

2009-11-28T19:46:00.000-08:00

... And apparently a "good time was had by all" for Thanksgiving at nearby Soda Springs that year. According to this Evening Chronicle tidbit (dated November 28, 1879), dancing lasted 'til dawn... a good method of working off the turkey, duck, etc., consumed earlier, I have no doubt. (Note: Soda Springs features in a key scene in the second Silver Rush mystery, Iron Ties):

THANKS AT SODASPRINGS
It was ten minutes past four o’clock this morning before Thanksgiving festivities ceased at Soda Springs. They commenced with a dinner to the school teachers of Leadville at twelve o’clock yesterday noon. This was followed by a dinner to everybody who came down to six o’clock last evening. The everybody was three of Colonel Bair’s hack loads, besides a number who came by private carriage. They kept coming till past ten o’clock in the evening. At eight o’clock the large dining hall was cleared and the dance which continued till the light of day was commenced. All together the Thanksgiving at Mount Massive Hotel for the blessings of 1879 was one that will be pleasantly remembered as the weary road down through the journey of life is traveled.

Question that pops to mind: How many people fill up a "hack?" Ten? Twenty? ... Just one of those little mysteries of the past...

Thanksgiving, Leadville 1879

2009-11-27T14:08:00.000-08:00

A surfeit of turkey and company delayed me a couple of days from posting this tidbit from the Leadville Evening Chronicle, November 16, 1879:

THANKS
To-morrow is Thanksgiving.
All banks will be closed.
The Postoffice will be closed.
The hospitals will be remembered.
All the newspaper offices will be closed.
The poor of the city—no; there are none.
Extra turkey exercises will be held at the Grand, at the
Clarendon, and at the Windsor.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians are to hold their first
annual ball at the old Chestnut street Opera House [Shoenberg’s]
in the evening.
Thanksgiving dinners in imitation of New England family
reunions will be given at Stansell’s, at Londoner’s, at
Phelps’, at Thompson’s and at one hundred and some odd
other neat mansions.
At the Soda Springs Mount Massive Hotel, turkey, goose
and duck services will commence at two o’clock P.M. and continue
till five P.M. This will be followed with dancing. All
school teachers are to be there. All the editors are going. The
entire postoffice force, with the ladies who admire them
most, these and more still will ride to Mount Massive Hotel
to-morrow. Colonel Bair will run extra hacks to accommodate
those who may choose to go by his conveyances.

Here's hoping everyone had a good Thanksgiving, taking some time to give thanks along with tucking into the turkey, duck, tofurkey, what have you.

Words to write by... #5

2009-11-23T11:10:00.000-08:00

... I was going to switch topics to "Thanksgiving in Leadville in the Olden Days" or some such, but couldn't pass up this quote from A. A. Milne that appeared on a card sent to me a couple of days ago by relatives:

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.

Nice to know I'm in such august company! I do think, though, there is a fine line between creative disorder and "disaster disorder" (as I think of it). I can usually find something in the geological layers of papers or "filing boxes" in my office. But when it gets to the point of impossible—such that I'm spending hours looking desperately for some tidbit I once cut out of a newspaper some months/years previous—then it's no longer fun. Or creativity-enhancing.

Words to write by... #4

2009-11-19T21:38:00.000-08:00

Two quotes today, taken from a letter that George Elder wrote from Leadville on September 24, 1879, to his mother in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the time, George had recently moved to Leadville, hoping to make his way as a lawyer. (Aside: There were many many lawyers in Leadville... about 150 in 1880, according to the census. Lawyers were outnumbered only by miners [3204], laborers [1021], carpenters [487], salesmen [370], hostlers/teamsters/livery stable folk [255], saloon keepers/bartenders [228], restaurant workers [192], and engineers [163].)

These two quotes actually form the foundation for my fictional explorations of Leadville during the Silver Rush period:

"... it seems to me that a man cannot help becoming like the country out here."

and

"A murderer is safer in Leadville than a Horsethief."

Taking the latter quote first ... I figure that since murder didn't rate as high on the scale of importance as thievin' a horse, my protagonist, Inez Stannert, has a fair bit of latitude in investigating matters of "life and death." Provided the death doesn't involve a horse.

As to the first quote, I just love exploring how individuals responded to and became like "the country," as George puts it. To me, "country" includes not just the extreme physical conditions, but also the extreme "social climate." People came to get rich, to escape the past, to reinvent themselves, to save souls, to raise families, to make a living, and so on. Wonder what G.E. would've thought had he known that, 130 years after he penned his personal missives, someone completely unrelated to him would take creative inspiration from his observations and his words ...

Words to write by... #3

2009-11-18T19:53:00.000-08:00

Here's another one I've had hanging in my writing office for a very long time:

Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.—F. Scott Fitzgerald

I'm still bemused that this quote came from a writer, not a general. But goodness knows, persistence in the face of adversity is absolutely necessary in the world of writing. If you give up after the first few rejections, for instance, you'll never find the agent/publisher who wants your work. If you give up and crawl away after a scathing critique, you won't learn to "soldier through," revise (if necessary) or ignore (if not), and keep moving forward.

I need this sort of self-talk more often than not, because sometimes it feels like a major victory just getting up in the morning and placing one foot in front of the other...

Words to write by... #2

2009-11-17T22:07:00.000-08:00

Well, having descended to Hell with my previous words, I'll now travel the other direction with a quote that is taped on my (home) office door:

Cleanliness is next to godliness. I'm working on godliness.

This was actually a "gift of words" from an author-acquaintance who bunked down at our home while on a book tour through the Bay Area. I apologized for the sad and sorry state of the housekeeping and she replied with the above. I felt better after that, and plastered the saying above my door, just to keep my perspectives straight.

Words to write by... #1

2009-11-16T22:49:00.000-08:00

... Well, I didn't get to all the blogs I wanted to highlight last week, but that's okay. Leaves me a few in my hip pocket for another time.

This week, I thought I'd throw out some quotes that I like. Words to live by, words to write by, words to mull over and maybe re-use in some fashion or other.

This first quote is just something that I've been turning over in my mind for quite a while now. I came across it in a book called Evil in Modern Thought by Susan Neiman, in a discussion about evil and intent:

What counts is not what your road is paved with, but whether it leads to hell.

I love this comment on the old saying: "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." I think it's the perfect thing for Reverend Sands (one of my characters from the Silver Rush series) to say at some point. And, it's got me thinking about villains in general and the villain for book #4 in particular. So, don't be surprised if, in the future, the good Reverend has something insightful to say about intentions and the road to hell ...

Killer Cakes: Cake Wrecks

2009-11-13T19:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm well aware that this has nothing to do with writing. Or Leadville. Or the Silver Rush mystery series. Or history or....
But this particular blog is funny as heck, and I drop in every so often when I need a laugh. And who doesn't need something silly every once in a while?

The giggle-blog for this Friday the 13th is (drum roll, please...)
Cake Wrecks—When Professional Cakes Go Horribly, Hilariously Wrong

Disastrous culinary masterpieces may seem like an obscure topic to blog about, but ... guess what ... there is now a "Cake Wrecks" book. And I'll bet a whole lot of folks have plunked down twelve bucks and change for a copy.

Need I add, there are many paths to being published, humorous cake wreckage being one.

Riding into the sunset: Laurie's Wild West

2009-11-12T20:42:00.000-08:00

Following up on my intention to feature blogs of interest and a little off the beaten path this week, we're turning now to Laurie Powers' blog: Laurie's Wild West.

Okay, full-disclosure time: Laurie is a buddy of mine. We met years ago when we were both science writers/editors in identical cubicles separated by about 20 feet (of other cubicles, of course). Now, as to why I like Laurie's blog: I enjoy its overall focus (mostly on various aspects of pulp fiction, particularly western pulp fiction, and western history) and the variety of its posts (lost film with Charlie Chaplin; recipe on shrimp and pasta with garlic sauce; a series of posts on the Santa Clarita Valley, home to many movies filmed in the 1910s and 1920s).

Laurie's grandfather, Paul Powers, was a pulp fiction writer from the 1920s - 40s. Laurie discovered his unpublished memoir in a box many years ago (doesn't this just sound like the plot of a movie??) ... The memoir is now published, with a prologue and epilogue written by her. Title: Pulp Writer: Twenty Years in the American Grub Street. I've got my very own copy, and I'm here to say it's a fascinating read and hugely deserves its starred review from Booklist, enthusiastic review from the Los Angeles Times, and other accolades.

If you're interested in pulps, dime novels, the West, and western fiction and film in general (not to mention the occasional yummy recipe), you should mosey on over and take a gander at Laurie's blog.

Mystery from the Inside: Mysterious Matters: Mystery Publishing Demystified

2009-11-10T20:48:00.000-08:00

There are a bazillion-and-one blogs by authors, agents, publishers, and it sometimes feels like hollering into a hurricane out there. There's one blog, in particular, that I return to on a regular basis for insightful musings in general and the inside scoop on mystery publishing in particular—

Mysterious Matters: Mystery Publishing Demystified

Not sure who the mysterious blogger is behind this one, but he is "right on the money" with his observations. For instance, take a good look at this recent post on Overblurbing, Underselling, and the Dustbin of History. What caught my attention in particular (and kept popping to mind over this last week) is his point #3:

... it's occurred to me recently that today's mystery authors are working harder than I've ever seen to establish themselves. The crop out there right now is fairly desperate to achieve a level of familiarity, sales, and royalties that will provide them with continued contracts and livable income. The word "desperate" may have a pejorative connotation, but I don't mean it that way. What I mean is that so many writers want so badly to be best-sellers, or at least good-sellers; more so than at any time in my career...

It's something I (and some of my long-time writing buddies) have noted as well. The blogger of Mysterious Matters then goes on to offer thoughts on why this is so ... mentioning the current state of the economy, and so on. He concludes:

This is why I have said in the past, and I will say again, that writing fiction should never be considered anything beyond a hobby--especially if you have a family to support.

At which point I wanted to leap to my feet and yell "Hallelujah!" or some such. Because, truly for 98% of us, this is the case. And people just don't want to talk about it, for the most part. But honestly, if you can't buy groceries and health insurance and pay the mortgage with your writing endeavors, well, another source of income is needed. And there's nothing wrong with that. What's troubling/alarming is meeting folks who think writing fiction is a way to "get rich quick." Hmmm. Kinda reminds me of the Silver Rush in Leadville ....

Quirky yet refreshing: xkcd

2009-11-09T22:14:00.000-08:00

... I'm taking this week to highlight blogs or other webby things that tickle my fancy, make me think, or for whatever reason really stick with me. For the most part, I'm going to steer away from the "usual," and celebrate the "unusual." (For the most part.)

Here's my first offering: xkcd—A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. If you love a mjaority of any of these four elements, you'll find this a hoot. I'm particularly captivated that the current post on the webcomic's "blag" mentions Edward Tufte’s The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.

The webcomic on "centrifugal force" (below) featuring (a stick-figure-like) James Bond is my current favorite.

Places of Solace: My Grandmother's Table

2009-11-07T22:24:00.001-08:00

For the last post on this subject, I was trying to figure out where I gravitate to in my home when I need some mental "space." My office? Nope. It's too overwhelmed with piles of paper and books and disorganized (at present) for that kind of contemplation. When I'm in my office, I have to be focused and working or I'm constantly fighting the urge to leap to my feet and start cleaning.

Comfy chairs? We have them, but I don't spend my time in them these days.

Then, I figured it out. My "place of solace" at home is my grandmother's table. This dining table is probably close to a century old now, and has any number of family stories attached to it. My mother used to relate how she would sit beneath it and play "pretend" or with paper dolls. Then, when I was but a toddler and the table newly refinished, I apparently toddled up to it—the table edge being at mouth level—and bit on the edge. Teething? I guess so! My mother was horrified by the sharp set of teeth marks and offered to have it refinished yet again. My grandmother refused, saying she'd treasure those bite marks forever. They are still in the wood, but very faint.

In any case, when I need a space to myself, I pull back the table cloth, sit in one of the cane-backed chairs, and place my hands, palms down, on the scarred and worn tabletop. Something about sitting at the table, touching the surface that has witnessed so much usage, so many years, is very calming to me.

So, places can be places, objects, even intangible "places of the mind."

After this week of inward looking, I'm ready to look outward again.

Next week, I'm planning to feature blog sites that I find interesting ... hopefully some will be off the beaten track and new to you. In turn, I hope to hear of sites you-all find interesting, funny, thought-provoking.

Places of Solace: Music

2009-11-05T21:55:00.000-08:00

Music is a blanket for my soul, a place of solace I can take with me almost anywhere.
Got to hop in the car and do errands? (Life goes on, groceries must be gathered, people chauffeured, etc.) I crank up the local classical music station ... those cars that rattle windows with the bass line have nothing over my little radio blasting out Mozart! And not only in the car.

When I have writing/editing projects to deal with, deadlines to meet, and my heart's just not in it, on goes iTunes, in go the earphones, and I use the music to focus, create, advance, and soothe—all at once.
Music for waking and for sleeping.
Music when I have no more words, and just need to go inside myself for a while.

Music when I need to get out, walk, and see the sky, the trees, the clouds, and the horizon. And if I don't bring my iPod with me, there's a different kind of "music" to bring me to center—birds singing, wind in the trees, distant traffic.

Music is a major healing element in my life. It's helped me through many rough times. Few things have the power to help me recover to the extent that music does.
In this way, I count myself blessed.

Places of Solace: Walking

2009-11-04T20:05:00.001-08:00

Walking. There's something about the simple physical act of walking that brings peace. It hardly seems to matter where my feet are taking me or what path they tread. There's a nice park not too far from home—trees, deer, a small seasonal creek, lots of birds (and sometimes crazy bicyclists). Tromping around downtown (any downtown) or even around the neighborhood. It's the motion that grounds me (so to speak) and brings a sense of "place."

Strangely enough, I recently came across this site that talks about walking meditation. I particularly like this quote: "Practicing walking meditation is a way of 'de-fragmenting' our minds."

Places of Solace: The Coffee House

2009-11-03T18:14:00.000-08:00

Where some folks might stare into a whiskey glass for a little contemplation and insight into life and human nature (particularly at the Silver Queen, my fictional Leadville saloon), I prefer a coffee mug.

Since my espresso con panna days at UC Berkeley I have found and continue to find solace in places where the coffee's strong and the caffeine level high.

Coffee houses are great places to read, write, ponder, be comfortably alone while comfortably surrounded, and (uh-oh, confession time) eavesdrop on nearby conversations (kind of puts things in perspective, sometimes).

Other people are there, life goes on, and with a good cuppa Joe in hand, how bad can life be?

Places of Solace: The Library

2009-11-02T16:21:00.000-08:00

... One of the first places I turn to when I need some quiet and just to "be" or need to focus or recover from whatever life throws my way is "The Library." It hardly matters which library. Our local library is a wonderful, new, airy open building with many comfy chairs, long well-lit tables in the main sections (with electrical plugs for connecting the laptop), and smaller tables and chairs lining the windows beyond the stacks. Plus, the library has a cafe, so I can grab a coffee or a sandwich before heading for the tables in the stacks.

The Lake County Public Library in Leadville, Colorado, is another favorite mine. Tucked behind the stacks proper is The Leadville Room, a great, all-wood-and-waxed-to-a-glow room (take a look at the floor in the photo), lined with glassed-in bookshelves holding every book that ever mentioned Leadville by name. AND it has a fireplace, to boot.

I also have fond memories of Santa Fe's public library, where I did an intense, three-day edit of Silver Lies. I stayed in a nearby bed-and-breakfast, counting on that breakfast to last me all day. In the mornings, I'd station myself outside the library. As soon as it opened, I'd find a place near the reference books and stay put, until it closed.

Libraries: They all feel like home to me.

Throughout my life, I've turned to libraries as places to help me heal and recover when I'm tired, sad, or just plain stressed out. I've often thought that, when I die, I want to be cremated so that in death—just as in life—I can "multitask" and be several places at once! One of the places I would love to have some portion of my ashes rest would be tucked away in a favorite library. What better way could there be to spend eternity than surrounded by books??

Places of Solace

2009-11-01T22:49:00.001-08:00

Hoping to get onboard with regular blogging again. Truly, it goes in fits and starts. Much like life.
I decided I'm going to ease back into the daily blogging habit (I hope!) by examining places of solace: those places one goes for renewal.
For some, it might be a forest.
For others, it might be a city.
Yet others might find comfort curled up in a particular chair in the corner of a room.
In any case, think about the places you long to be, when you've a need to recover and gather energy. I'll step through a few of my favorite "places" (not all are physical locations) as the week progresses.

From dusk to dawn

2009-10-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

I started my day today with a discussion of words and word use (fun! really!). It came about because we were discussing the word "dusk," as in "I ran until dusk." (No, I didn't say this ... It was said by someone else much more young and fit.)

Anyhow, the conversation evolved (or devolved, depending your frame of reference) into a discussion of antonyms and synonyms. We agreed: synonyms of dusk include "twilight" and (this was my contribution) "gloaming" (love that word!). Antonyms for dusk are "dawn" and . . .??

At this point, I was a bit stumped. Maybe it's because whereas I experience dusk frequently (every day, essentially), dawn is ... something I experience only under protest or in light of early flight schedules. So, I turned to the internet while everyone else returned to work. But hey, I charge by the hour, so I figured I could put in a couple free minutes to satisfy the itch for symmetry.

What I found:
Dusk vs Dawn
Twilight vs First light
Sundown vs Sunrise (or Sunup)
Nightfall vs Daybreak

Dawn or dusk? Who knows? But look at those lovely lenticular clouds!

But then, I ran into trouble:
Gloaming vs ... what?? Gleaming? (I rather like that, but don't think it's the case.)
Eventide vs ... uh ...

And what about crepuscular light? Does that only apply to evening/dusk? If so, then what do you call the "light before the dawn?"

At that point, I had to stop and get to work, because the itch to find the right words was beginning to feel more like a rash. But I've been turning those terms over in my mind all day... and now it's long past dusk.

Tough times for the past ...

2009-10-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

... I was given the heads up today that the venerable Pioneers Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado, may be a casualty of the shrinking city budget... You can read about the city's woes here. This is extremely distressing to me—not just on a philosophical level, but on a personal level as well: I became a "long distance" member of the museum this summer and was looking forward to some enlightening emails exchanges with some of its researchers regarding the as-yet-unnamed Book #4 of the Silver Rush series...

Of course, Colorado Springs isn't the only city with budgetary woes. Right here in my home state of California and in other states as well, there's agonized slashing and burning (of the financial variety) in nearly every direction. Libraries—another institution that "guards the past"—are also closing left and right, or finding their hours severely curtailed.

Very sad, all in all ... the past is such an easy target, with its ghosts, its books, letters, objects, and images. With all that's going on here and now, who cares about the past?

But, when we shutter the museums and the libraries—the windows to the past—we are, in a sense, blinding ourselves (it's that old "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" business).

Anyhow, here's hoping that some way is found to keep the museum going, and for libraries to find a way to keep the lights burning for everyone.

Do It Now

2009-10-10T19:33:00.001-07:00

... I decided to take my own advice (DO IT NOW) from my comments to Sylvia Dickey Smith on Examiner.com and update this blog as well as buckle down on my other writing tasks! As I mentioned in my remarks to Sylvia, once I tipped over that magic "50" age marker, I could no longer fool myself that there's as much time ahead as behind.

Too, there's something about Autumn's arrival that gets me moving and focused again. Autumn puts me in mind of new beginnings—more than January 1 or the first day of Spring. Perhaps it has to do with September being the start of the school year. When I add it all up, between my own school-attending years and those of my children, more (much more) than half my life has been ruled by the school calendar.

So here it is, October already. Nights are shorter, days are (marginally) colder, the light outside is different. Time to begin again.

One of the things I'm preparing for is the upcoming Bouchercon convention in Indianapolis (October 15–18). I'll be in two panels:

Thursday, October 15, 9 a.m. MEN, WOMEN AND MURDER THROUGH THE AGES (Concept Room)
Friday, October 16, 4 p.m. THE ART OF THE WESTERN MYSTERY (The Eiteljorg Museum: off-site)

Other than that, I'll be at the Librarians' Tea, the SinC breakfast, and just wandering around in general, listening to what readers and authors are up to these days.

I encourage you to check out Sylvia's Austin Writing Examiner column and leave a comment or two; there are a lot of "over 50" authors with some interesting takes on life and writing. And I hope you can take time to enjoy the changing of the seasons, perhaps reflecting on what Autumn brings to you in way of a harvest of the soul...

Black Cat, Cliff House, Glen Eyrie, and more

2009-08-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

Spent some time in Colorado Springs and Manitou, gleaning bits and pieces of history with the help, enthusiasm and expertise of many folks (too many to enumerate right now, but they are on my "thank you" list!).

In addition to a wonderful event at Black Cat Books (photo left to right: historical reenactor Doris McCraw, me, Dani Greer of Blood Red Pencil and Blog Book Tours, and author Cynthia Becker), I spent two nights in the Cliff House, and a night at Glen Eyrie (the home of General William Jackson Palmer, a name familiar to railroad and Civil War enthusiasts as well as folks who've read Iron Ties).

The Cliff House, which originally got started in 1873, became one of "the" places to stay in the 1880s and beyond for folks "chasing the cure" for tuberculosis. It's a wonderful place, with a big, wide porch ... one can almost picture the gentlemen and ladies promenading around. For some reason, I didn't take any pictures of the Cliff House (too much running about, I guess), so I'll have to rely on memory and internet for that.

Glen Eyrie is currently owned by The Navigators, but is open to the public for overnight accommodations, hiking, etc., with reservations. Again, a lovely building. The iconic stone structure was, alas, not around in 1880 (the timeframe for book #4), but its predecessor, a 22-room frame house, did exist. I got some photos here ... I love staircases; this is the staircase leading up to the second floor and the bedroom where I stayed overnight.

The next morning, I took a short hike up Queen's Canyon, named after Queen Mellen Palmer (General Palmer's wife). Queen Palmer suffered a mild heart attack on a trip up to Leadville during the summer of 1880. Of course, the wheels start turning when I heard this: When, precisely, did this happen that summer? Why was she going to Leadville? What happened afterwards?

I do know that she gave birth to the Palmers' second daughter, Dorothy, about two months later. Her first daughter was born in New York City; the third (and last) in England. I'm very curious about Queen Palmer, and am going to see what else I can find out about her during the 1880 summer timeframe.

Tomorrow ... off to Fort Collins and the Readers Cove for a 6 p.m. event!

Out and About at Manitou

2009-07-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I sure hoped to get in some historical post before now, but things just got a tad crazy. So, instead, I'll post a couple of photos from my (on-going) trip around Colorado. Right now, I'm in Manitou, and a tad Manitou/Colorado Springs obsessed. Mostly obsessed with trying to find out what was going on during the summer of 1880. My time is ticking away here, and even though I've found lots of good tidbits and intriguing pieces of history (and lots of reference books and resources), the questions keep multiplying.

So.

I took a break and tried to clear my mind a bit. (Well, I didn't forego history entirely. For one thing, I visited the Old Colorado City Historical Center and gathered more historical bits and pieces there for later.)

I visited Black Cat Books today in Manitou ... a really great bookstore! Met Natalie, the bookstore owner. Got her to stand still for a photo (see left ... in addition to books, there is a wine bar). I'll be at Black Cat Books on Saturday, August 1, from 1 - 4 p.m., to talk about Leaden Skies and the rest of the Silver Rush series ... I'm looking forward to it!

The bookstore used to be an dairy in the days of old, and down below (where most of the books are) is where they kept the cows. The whole building is very intriguing ... I plan to take more photos and see if I can determine the date of the building at some point.

Later, I went up Cheyenne Canyon to check out Helen Hunt Falls and Silver Cascade Falls (just a bit further up the trail). Helen Hunt Falls is to the left. This was a favorite place of 19th century author Helen Hunt Jackson. Hmmm. Looks slippery. Could be a good place for a little fictional mayhem.

It was a rainy, cloudy day ... bits of fog hanging about, the air crisp and cool. Thunder. Lightning. Wind. Rain. Great atmosphere. I'm going to try and hold on to my impressions of the weather and the canyon for possible use in book #4.

Take your chance on winning Silver or Lead

2009-07-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Library Manager/Book Reviewer Lesa Holstine is running a drawing on her blog Lesa's Book Critiques to win a signed copy of either Silver Lies (the first of the Silver Rush series) or of Leaden Skies (the most recent). So, if you're interested in "taking a gamble" on the Silver Rush, head over to her post "Winners and the Silver Rush" and follow her instructions on how to enter. While you're there, you should peruse her book reviews ... You may find a whole more to add to your to-be-read pile!

... And I really do intend to post about 4th of July in Leadville long ago. It's just that some project deadlines have caught up with me as of late. Hope to hit the "all clear" next week!

Of law and lawlessness in Leadville

2009-07-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

Leadville got off to a rough start in the law and order department: In "History of Lake County," R.G. Dill described the situation in 1878 (from the lofty viewpoint of 1881):

The streets and alleys which had come into being with the growth of the town, were the hiding places of desperadoes who waited paitently for the coming of their victims, whom a blow from the bludgeon would put in a condition to be quietly robbed.

One year later in 1879, things are even worse:

Following in the wakes of the wealth which daily poured into the camp, were men whose trades were theft and robbery. To drug a victim, coolly rifle his pockets of every article of value, and throw him into the streets to be arrested for drunkennes, was among the most common ethhods of the thugs who infested the saloons and variety theatres... Men were robbed within the shadows of their own doors; stripped of their valuables in their own bedchambers... and no part of the city was so well guarded as to be safe...

Leadville's first town marshal lasted only a few days. The second lasted three and a half weeks before being shot. The third, Mart Duggan, was a man who, by some accounts, was no better than those he set out to bring to heel. Edward Blair, in his very readable Leadville: Colorado's Magic City, sums Duggan up nicely: "He was not overly concerned with the letter of the law or the rights of the accused. His methods were those of the 'roughs,' and his success was born out of his superior strength, determination, and absolute fearlessness."

The town (or city) marshal was not the only enforcer of law. Leadville also had a police force. in mid-1879, the Leadville Daily Chronicle sums up the typical officer in this manner:

... numbered and branded with a star and turned loose. He has no instructions as to what he is to do, or how he is to do it. He is amendable to nobody nor nothing. Makes arrests when he feels like it, and sometimes tries and discharges his own prisoners. If there is one place in the city where he can find more comforts than another, that place will be well watched.

In early 1880, Leadville appointed a "city collector" from the police force to collect all revenues (saloon licenses and fines of prostitutes and gamblers were the biggest sources of revenue for the city—around $3,500 a month). Some fees were collected by the city clerk and various police officers as well. Interestingly enough, however, it wasn't until October 1880 that the city council finally passed a resolution requiring that all officers collecting funds to account for them.

Hmmm, says I. Sounds like plenty of opportunity for corruption and for said funds to go astray... These mental musings were the genesis of one of the story lines in Leaden Skies.

Next up (because it's that time of year): Fourth of July in long-ago Leadville.

The Leadville craze, circa 1879

2009-06-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

Here is the wonderful thing about browsing old newspapers and such: You go in search of one thing and, along the way, discover even more than you bargained for! I love it!

While looking for the article regarding proper winter wear for traveling to Leadville in 1879, I found several other references to the "Leadville craze" as reported in other Colorado newspapers and picked up in the Denver Daily Tribune, February 4, 1879, edition.

First, from the same article in the Colorado Miner that detailed travel fashion:

The journey to Leadville at this season of the year is not what may properly be denominated a "pleasure trip." Few men would undertake it except with the view of bettering their financial prospects, or because because they have been attacked with what is known as the "Leadville craze," a variety of that feverish excitement which carried thousands into White Pine and made it the liveliest camp in the world for a short time; which filled the Black Hills with thousands who came to their senses and walked out or got out the best they could. But the fact remains that the excitement "catches" hundreds...

And, from the Boulder News and Courier:

The tendency of the average American is, like that of sheep, to go in herds. It is only necessary for some bell-wether to strike off at a lively gait in a given direction, to have an immense following who have taken him as their guiding star. How many disappointed and disgusted ones will come away from Leadville, no one is paid to tell or undertakes to chronicle. The number who go and are going is constantly dinned into our ears, but the sequel of their going is never told. Those who "strike it rich" are noisy and jubilant; those who miserably fail and lose what money they took with them, are silent and despairing; so that the record is made up from the former class...

True, there's a slight whiff of "sour grapes" about these comments (particularly in the Boulder piece, which goes on to say: "...It is no exaggeration to say that Boulder county contains as much rich ore as any county in the State..."). Still, these are observations of human nature that are true not only for 19th century mineral rushes such as those in aforementioned White Pine and the Black Hills, but for recent booms (i.e., high-tech, business, and real-estate). Remember the stories of the "golden boys and girls" during the dot.com boom or the Wall Street high-flying financiers, for instance? Not much was reported about those who didn't "make it"... at least, when things were going gangbusters.

Next up: A little preview on what I discovered during the writing of Leaden Skies about "the law" in 1880 Leadville and the state of politics during that time...

The well-dressed winter traveler (1879)

2009-06-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

... Continuing the theme of "traveling to Leadville" (in a way, that's what we're doing here, as I count down the days to the release of Leaden Skies) , we'll turn now to the subject of "oh, what shall I wear" on that journey by stagecoach up to 10,500 feet in the Rocky Mountains in winter, 1879.

I promise you this: no Goretex is involved.

Here it is, survival fashion for that trip to Leadville, straight from a seasoned traveler (quoted from the Colorado Miner and appearing in the Denver Daily Tribune, February 4, 1879):

Wear a fur cap; carry a scarf that will fold around your head and neck with about six thicknesses; put on a thick flannel shirt and two more over that; one pair of drawers, and two more other that; let your vest, pants and coat be heavy, loose boots and a pair of overshoes may keep your feet warm; put a bottle of the best spirits in your pocket, for arctic emergencies, and then envelop yourself in a pair of California blankets as soon as you get on the coach.

Zounds! Sounds like the properly dressed fellow wears nearly all he owns, just to make the trip. And not a word said about the properly dressed lady. One can only imagine.

Now, here's an interesting thing: I wondered about these California blankets. Just previous to this quote, there's the line "... we advise everybody to go warmly clad, and to carry a pair of heavy blankets along..." Hence, "California blankets" must be very warm. But look up the term in a slang dictionary (I used the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang), and "California blankets" is hobo slang for "sheets of newspaper used for bedding or warmth" circa 1926. Apparently the term went from one extreme (really really toasty warm) to the other (barely adequate covering on a warm California night) in the almost 50 years between 1879 and 1926.

Next up ... more about the 1879 "Leadville craze."

The color purple, Leadville, and 1879 travel

2009-06-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

The time rushes ever closer to the official release of Leaden Skies. I've received my box of author copies, and my gosh, the dustjacket has quite a lovely tint of lavender (... it's just about the color you see here to the left. Somehow, that tint doesn't come through when viewing the cover online). Looking beneath the dustjacket, the bookboards are the same, with Leaden Skies on the spine in gold script. (I wonder: Am I the only one who peels off the dustcover to check the "real deal" underneath? Anyhow...) All I can say is, Wow! (In a good way, of course.)

So, now, I'm thinking of things Leadvillian. You can check out my News page for a bit about the Lake County Public Library choosing the entire Silver Rush series as their "One Book, One Community" read this summer ... I'm so excited about this, I can't think of much else. But I will. So.

Let's get down to history.

Maybe it was the cover of Leaden Skies, but I was compelled to open up the (purple-covered) reprint I have of Tourist Guide to Colorado in 1879 by Frank Fossett. (I have the original 1879 book as well, but it's too fragile for casual reading. And it's not purple.) Leadville appears in the index more frequently than any other location, including Denver. One of the first mentions is on page 14, in a discussion of the railroads in Colorado, with Denver as the starting point:

To the southwest the Denver & South Park conveys the traveler to the weird beauties of Platte River Cañon, and up through the mountains to where the tide of humanity on its way to Leadville halts to take a fresh start, by stage or footpath...

No foolin' about that tide of humanity. And the toss-away remark about "a fresh start by stage or footpath" provides no clue to the perils and inconveniences involved. The following description of stage travel, provided by Eugene Floyd Irey in his Ph.D. dissertation, A Social History of Leadville, Colorado, During the Boom Days, 1877-1881, pretty much sums it up:

At all seasons the narrow roads were crowded with teams and wagons moving in both directions In the midst of the confusion the traveler found himself in a coach carrying 12 passengers inside and eight outside, lurching either up or down a steep mountain grade. In the summer the entire road was buried in dust and in the winter the blasts from the surrounding mountains brought suffering to all and death to the unprepared.

"Death to the unprepared." Sounds like the title to a book. Or perhaps a short story. Hmmm.

Next time, we'll explore what one seasoned traveler in 1879 recommended as proper dress for a winter journey to Leadville ...

Of POV and gender ...

2009-06-02T20:31:00.001-07:00

Another little tidbit I picked up from the recent Mayhem in the Midlands conference involved writing characters not of one's own gender, again from the What Authors Get Wrong panel. One of the authors (male, I'm thinking, although I'm not going to throw out a name, because I'll probably mis-remember!) related a story about a woman in his critique group who wrote a scene with a "manly man." The rough, tough testosterone-driven protagonist enters a home to interview a suspect and notices ...

The lovely pattern in the drapes.

The critique group pointed out that a guy is not likely to notice (much less comment on) the print curtains.

Writing characters from a gender differing from your own is a topic of some discussion. Here's a sample of blog posts and discussions:

Writing a POV character of the Opposite Gender on Crimespace (Brian Thorton, back in 2007) ... check out the comments and discussion
Gender, Author, and Characters on Author Intrusion (Rod Duncan, recently)
A Writer Can be Anyone or Anything on Daily Writing Tips (by Maeve in 2008)

And now, here's something fun! Copy/paste a 500 word sample of your writing into The Gender Genie (on BookBlog) and it will analyze your work and "determine" whether you are male or female.

I slapped in the first 800 words for the as yet nascent 4th Silver Rush book ( first chapter drafted and I know where the second is heading). I checked the "fiction" button and punched "submit."

... Here's what popped up ...

Score: Female: 796 Male: 1046
Result: The Gender Genie thinks the author of this passage is: male!

I'm intrigued (but not male)!

The results list "feminine keywords" and "masculine keywords" and the occurrence of each in the writing sample. The words are apparently weighted according to an algorithm. What I take away from this is that I am comfortably balanced between the two worlds.

Try it and let me know what your results are....

Stay away from these...

2009-05-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a tidbit from Mayhem in the Midlands that I picked up in the What Authors Get Wrong panel. One of the speakers (at first I thought it was Michael Black, but I have been corrected: it was none other than Margaret Grace, aka Camille Minichino) recited lines of dialogue oft heard in TV crime drama shows—deathless questions, comments, statements, that should be retired. Here are the few I scribbled down:

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" (said with increasing intensity)
"I never meant for this to happen." (bloody corpse lying at the feet of the speaker)
"What do you mean by that?" (well, duh)
"Are you okay?" (said to someone who has 1. been hit over the head, 2. caught in a tornado, 3. survived an explosion, 4. received a paper cut, 5. ...)

I wish I'd captured more of these, but alas! I'll have to admit, I've used a couple of these myself on occasion (no, don't go looking for them now!). I think, perhaps, it's a case of "lazy writing," and also of being raised on television back in the days of yore. When the stories roll out like a movie in my mind, those lines just automatically pop up in certain circumstances.

And, just for fun (because it is the weekend) here's some other (non-Mayhem) sites to visit that discuss dialogue and situation cliches in movies and TV.

The Movie Cliches List
Roger Ebert's Glossary List (lots of good ones here!)
The Definitive List of Cliche Dialogue (by Kevin Lehane)
ScreenwriterGuy's Top 10 Worst Cliche Lines of Dialogue
TV Tropes in Dialogue (Technically, a trope is not a cliche, but hey, "Beam me up, Scotty!" and take a gander at these)

Wander on through them and see what catches your fancy or sounds familiar. And then vow not use them in your own writing. There's always another way to say it!

Tidbit from Mayhem: Analyzing location/setting...

2009-05-25T22:10:00.000-07:00

I've returned from a GREAT little conference: Mayhem in the Midlands (Omaha, Nebraska). Managed to shed bookmarks, postcards, chocolate, and (not by choice!) a duffel bag that contained ALL the giveaways and workshop materials of my traveling companion, Margaret Grace, and all my lovingly hand-picked signing pens. And a pair of shoes. And sundry books, toiletries, etc. My favorite pull-over sweater for traveling. These items are most likely still riding around in the trunk of an Omaha Yellow Taxi cab (number unknown), more's the pity.

BUT, I will quit sniffling about the stuff and focus instead on the conference itself, which was as friendly, interesting, and well-run as ever. And, as promised, I'm going to spend this week blogging about some of the tidbits I picked up during the sessions and while gadding about. One is never too old to learn! :-)

Tidbit for today, from author William Kent Krueger during the Location! Location! Location! panel:

People talk about location/setting as being a "character." If you have a novel in which setting takes a very lead role, then analyze its "character" elements:

What is the face of your location?
The voice?
The culture?
How about your location's "background" (i.e., history)?
Strengths and weaknesses?

I've not thought about setting this way before, and find the possibilities intriguing. Can you think of other character traits or aspects you could examine in order to bring your setting to life?

Shoes, clothes, bookmarks, business cards ... into the suitcase

2009-05-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

I'm getting ready to head off to attend Mayhem in the Midlands in Omaha, Nebraska. I try to plan ahead, but always, there is the inevitable last-minute "toss into the suitcase" business. At least, this time, I've remembered to include a camera and a notebook (so I don't have to scribble random notes on random bits of paper). My plan: take some pics and some notes and post next week with "tips" gleaned from the conference.

People sometimes ask me: Why go to a conference if you don't have a new book out yet? Isn't that a waste of time and money? In my view, it's never a "waste." I always come away with more insights into the business and with more books to read (natch!) by authors new and familiar. And, most of all, I get to submerge myself into the "world of mystery books and those who love them" ... readers, librarians, authors, booksellers ... (am I missing anyone?? :-) ).

I look at it this way: Some people drop a bundle on Disneyland, and get a charge out of riding Thunder Mountain and seeing the Magic Kingdom. Me, I get a charge out of being around books and talking with/listening to the people who read/write/sell them.

If you are going to Mayhem, be sure to look me up and say hello. I'm in three (!three!) panels on Friday, covering historical mysteries, strong women protagonists, and settings.

I will be well-armed with bookmarks, LEADEN SKIES chapbooks, and chocolate, and I don't want to take ANY of it home (after all, I have to make room for the books I buy!).

Virtual Promo . . . where's the data?

2009-05-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

Initially I thought I'd blog about the new Star Trek movie (summary: I saw it Friday, and it was GREAT!), but my attention was snagged by a comment on an e-list regarding blog book tours and their effectiveness. Personally, I'm planning to do one myself, but as a "data geek," I have to say I'd love to see some numbers on whether they "work" or not (numbers showing effectiveness of any marketing efforts on behalf of authors being hard to come by).

Eureka!

Head on over to Southern Review and check out item #17. It seems that Jack Kilborn (aka J.A. Konrath) planned a 100 blog tour for his new horror book, Afraid. He managed 96. (Quite an impressive feat, IMHO. And I begin to wonder: Does this man sleep? Eat? Prepare dinner or do the laundry? When does he write??) The article contains a little table showing selected dates on his virtual tour and his amazon.com numbers for that day (or maybe the next day, not sure which). In general, the numbers trend upwards, meaning his book rises in rankings. Of course, I start to wonder things such as: Which blogs on what days? Does day of the week make a difference, or the topic covered, or . . .

Okay. I could drive myself crazy thinking about this.

Still, it's very interesting.

Along this line, fellow mystery author Beth Groundwater is more than halfway through her 16-stop blog tour (she's doing 23 posts, but some of her stops are two-parters), and I know she's collecting data as she goes. I'll be very interested to find out what she has discovered!

Here, there, everywhere ...

2009-05-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

Although this title could refer to my state of mind these days, I intend it to refer to signing and event venues.

This topic is on my mind because of
1) the cold calls I've been doing
2) Jane Kennedy Sutton's recent blog on book signing venues
3) a library event I did just the other day with a panel of mystery authors (that's Dana Fredsti sitting next to me in the photo below. The other panelists were Mark Coggins and Margaret Grace)

Libraries and bookstores are, of course, the obvious venues. Sometimes it's difficult (at least for me) to think outside the box on all this, particularly when there's a new release approaching like a freight train. But I do believe it's good to be open to the possibilities that come one's way and check out what other venues folks find. In addition to Jane's excellent blog post about this, check out Susan Wittig Alberts' post on "Finding Your Niche and Filling It: Tips for Marketing Your Mystery."

I'm also going to recommend the book Intent to Sell: Marketing the Genre Novel by Jeffrey Marks. He has a chapter on "Finding Your Niche" that has some great suggestions. In addition, Marks' Murder Must Advertise website also has a page called Fresh Ideas where authors offer marketing suggestions from booksigning tips to podcasting and an entire little subsection on Twittering.

So, cozy "craft" mystery authors frequent craft shows. Authors of mysteries featuring canines "dog" specialty magazines and dog shows. Historical authors might consider historical societies and genealogy groups. Personally, I've often thought I should check out the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS), what with the "Old West" aspects of my mystery series.

Others thoughts? Anything that you've tried that's worked well for you? Venues are only limited by your imagination!

Oh, those cold calls

2009-05-12T23:00:00.000-07:00

I'm a tad behind the curve, I think, with Leaden Skies coming out in July, but I finally settled in to doing a serious round of calling to set up events for the first month and a half after its release. For many of these, I'll be part of a "group event" (usually two or three, sometimes four authors) ... which is a great way to go about these things, in my view.

I don't know about other authors, but I really have to psych myself up to pick up that phone and call. (Usually requires a cup of coffee at hand, a pad of paper and pen for taking notes, and a bit of chocolate for encouragement and courage).

Sometimes the calls go well, and sometimes not so. On the plus side, I had three great chats today: One with the chief librarian at Lake County Public Library in Leadville about my trip up there in early August (it's all coming together, little by little), another with the editor of Colorado Central magazine (the monthly magazine for people who choose porches over porsches) and a third with Chris from Clues Unlimited Mystery Bookstore in Tucson.

Then, of course, there are the not-so-great calls. But I try to be philosophical: If someone isn't interested, that's okay, It does no good to brood. Just move on to the next one on the list.

For some great tips on how to approach newspapers and so on, I recommend reading Tips for Book Reviews by Betty Webb, on the Murder Must Advertise site. Great advice, no matter what kind of books you write!

Mothers to end all mothers ...

2009-05-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

Well, my blog-a-day good intentions got whacked into left field Friday night when I opened the front door to find my college kid, home for a surprise Mother's Day weekend visit! Saturday and Sunday went by in a whirl.

Now that said college kid has departed again, I'm faced with blogging on Mother's Day. Determined not to become maudlin (it would be very easy to do so... there's a sudden empty space where "da kid" was rattling around just minutes ago, gathering laptop, clean laundry, various electronic chargers, etc. etc.), I've decided to point you-all to this great BookFinder blog post on the worst mothers in literature. Hey, we can all take comfort that none of these ladies are the LEAST like us. Or our mothers. Right??

Anyhow, I had been thinking about it before I peeked at the list (having first seen mention of it elsewhere). My fave for a "top 10" pick wasn't listed: the stepmother (or, in the earliest version, the mother) of Snow White. Yes, I'm talking about her royal highness The Queen (of some mythical fairy-tale land). I mean, just because her daughter/stepdaughter is young and beautiful ... "Take her out in the forest and bring me her heart!" Yikes! And honestly, Snow White sounds like a lovely girl—does housework, friends with the animals, sings. Think about it: no snarky teen "eye-roll." No snippy "You're not the boss of me!" No sex, drugs, rock-n-roll ... What does The Queen have to complain about?

I do see Hansel and Gretel's mother/stepmother makes mid-list, though, at #5.

Guess we all can appreciate our own mothers and give ourselves a break for our little faults today!

Word geeks: View this

2009-05-08T19:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm going to kick back tonight and watch the movie Chicago on DVD! :-)

Meanwhile, if you are a "word geek," like I am, and love dictionaries, words, language, and all that goes into such, the clip below is for you. (And I'm a gal whose favorite Christmas present EVER was a Roget's Thesaurus when I was 13 years old ... I still have it in my bookcase, right next to my desk.)

Here's hoping you love this clip as much as I did!

Happy viewing!

Of baggage, books, editors, and agents

2009-05-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

I sat down to write this evening's blog, glanced over towards the living room, and despaired. There sat my suitcase, still waiting to be unpacked from my Malice Domestic trip. And I got home late Sunday night.

Eeeuw.

I decided I'd open 'er up, pull out the books I brought home with me, and say a word or two about some of them before moving on to the conference's "Editors and Agents" panel.

Okay, books first. For those who haven't attended mystery cons such as Malice, one of the major joys is receiving the "bag o' books" that seems to be requisite perk of attending. (?Is this a common practice for conferences of other genres? Romance readers: Do you get a big bag of freebie books at romance conferences?) In any case, after receiving the bag, I hurried up to my hotel room and sorted through the books within (feeling like a small child at Christmas). Four days later, I lugged them home along with the few that I had bought (very few, as I'm on a budget these days) from the conference booksellers. In no particular order, here are a few of the volumes that make the cross-country trek in the belly of JetBlue:

Deadlier than the Pen by Kathy Lynn Emerson, #1 in the Diana Spaulding series —Oh boy! Big score here! I've read #2 and #3 in this historical mystery series, but not this one. Can't wait to dive in.
Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand—A complete unknown, but it was in the bag, and I was intrigued by this Publishers Weekly blurb on the back: "Hand explores the narrow boundary between artistic genius and madness in this gritty, proundly unsettling literary thriller...."
Wobble to Death by Peter Lovesey—Another freebie from the bag. I was won over by the Author's Note at the start, which says, "... Six day 'Go As You Please Contests'—or 'Wobbles'—were instituted by Sir John Astley in March 1878, and became very popular on both sides of the Atlantic in the eighties. An Englishman, George Littlewood, set the record of 623-3/4 miles in New York in 1888, in spite of his foot being burned during the race, when his alcohol bath caught fire..." Wow! How can I resist???
Still Life by Louise Penny—I bought this paperback. Louise Penny is one of those "genuine" authors who is a pleasure to talk with and listen to. I haven't read anything by her yet, so was resolved to buy the first in her series and give it a shot.
The Sex Club by L.J. Sellers—There was a stack of these on the giveaway table with the invitation to "take one." I've heard some buzz about this book (and a friend recommended it), so I grabbed a copy.
Night Kill by Ann Littlewood—Ann L. is a fellow Poisoned Pen Press author. We had a grea time chatting at the conference. I bought Night Kill and got Ann to sign it. :-)
In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff—Bought this as a result of the Malice-Go-Round mentioned in my previous post. It's an historical set in 1904 New York and is compared to early Caleb Carr (think: The Alienist). Stefanie was one of those "genuine" low-key people. That, along with the subject matter, convinced me to plunk down my hard-earned change on a hardback by an "unknown."
The Cat, the Quilt, and the Corpse by Leann Sweeney—Boy, does the cover look cozy, never mind the references to cats and quilts! Still, it was "in the bag," and I know Leann is an accomplished writer, so why not?

... And I'll stop there!

Now, for those of you who patiently persevered through this post to find out about the "editors and agents" panel, I'm going to pull a fast one and point you to a great post by Sandra Parshall on Poe's Deadly Daughters right here. She says it all, and very well, so go read it. In fact, I'm going to go Twitter about her post right now! :-)

Promo ideas gleaned from Malice Domestic

2009-05-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today, my tidbit from the Malice Domestic convention has to do with promotion.

Whenever I go to conferences or other authors' events and signings (virtual or brick-and-mortar), I'm always looking for ideas and trying to gage what works and what doesn't. At this year's Malice Domestic, I had a lively post-conference conversation with new Poisoned Pen Press author Rachel Brady (her debut mystery Final Approach will be out October 2009) about different promo approaches we saw during the convention.

One of the things I always do is check out the "giveaway" table and pick up bookmarks, chapbooks, flyers, pens, calendars, sticky-note pads . . . whatever authors provide in the way of promotion to readers. I like bookmarks (they're pretty cost-efficient) as does Rachel, but when it came to trying to remember (without peeking), which ones grabbed our attention, the only ones that we recalled were those that were a little different: a bauble hanging from one end, for instance, or a different sort of design.

The other interesting promotional opportunity that the conference provided was the "Malice-Go-Round" in which attendees sit at tables (anywhere from one or two to seven or eight per table) and authors who had a book come out in the year preceding the conference moved from table to table having, at most, 90 seconds to "pitch" their books to the attendees. Authors moved in groups of two or three in an orderly way through the 20 tables. Yes, that's TWENTY tables, TWENTY times to do a pitch and connect with readers. Needless to say, I collected a ton of bookmarks, postcards, and some candy.

When Rachel asked me what stood out for me during this event, I responded promptly: "Chocolate!" But, when pressed, I admitted that I couldn't remember which authors provided the chocolate treats... After talking about it some, Rachel and I agreed that the authors we could still recall in a positive way, three day later, were those who made an effort to "see" us as individuals, not just possible buyers of their books. And, you can tell, believe me, when someone is so focused on pitching and getting you to GO TO THE BOOKROOM AND BUY THEIR BOOK that they don't "see" you. The other quality that played out positively were those authors that were simply themselves ... and here again, it's a gut feeling thing as to whether someone is donning an "author persona" or not, but particularly in situations like this where a bazillion authors are flowing past in rapid-fire order, "gut feeling" can count for a lot.

So, three promo tidbits I took away from the giveaway tables and the Malice-Go-Round:

Be yourself.
Engage readers as people, not just potential buyers.
Provide the little "something different" in a promo piece that will set you aside from the rest.
Finally, chocolate alone isn't a sure-fire way to impress yourself on readers' long-term memories (alas).

What's in a word?

2009-05-05T22:30:00.000-07:00

My tidbit from Malice Domestic today is really more "food for thought" than anything else. At the conference, there was a survey being handed out, asking folks if "cozy" should be replaced by some other term. For those not familiar with the term, a "cozy mystery" usually has an amateur sleuth (often female), no "on screen" or graphic blood, gore, or sex, and no (or very little) profanity. For further discussion of what goes into a cozy mystery check out Definition of a Cozy Mystery here or Writing the Cozy Mystery here.

Anyhow, there is a general feeling I've sensed (and heard expressed) that cozy mysteries do not get their due. That, in the world of crime fiction, "big thrillers," "literary mysteries," and so on are better respected, more heavily promoted, get the bigger bucks (in advances), and are higher on the review chain.

I'm not going to dive into that kettle of fish (or mangle any other idioms), but I do find it interesting that there's a belief that, by changing whatever you call this genre, you can somehow change how people view it. If we were to call cozy mysteries something else, they would still be what they are. If we labeled such mysteries as, oh, I don't know, "extreme mysteries" would it make a difference, do you think? Can you come up with another label for these sorts of cat-and-teapot traditional mysteries? (If you are still not sure what constitutes "cozy," think Jessica Fletcher and Cabot Cove).

Must there be romance?

2009-05-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

... Continuing with my intent to post Malice Domestic tidbits this week, here's an interesting one from author Kate Collins from the panel "Wine, Flowers and Murder: The Role Romance Plays in Mysteries" (paraphrased ... so I hope I've got the essence of it here):
"You can't build a normal well-rounded character without romance."

At first, I thought, hold on there ... you can't? But then, I started thinking about it. Perhaps the operative words here are normal and well-rounded. There are certainly plenty of damaged, loner-type characters wandering through crime fiction that seem unable to form romantic attachments.

In most mystery series that I can think of (cozy series in particular), romance creeps in sooner or later, to add tension, interest, character development.

So, what do you think? Can you have a normal, well-rounded character without romance? Do you like romance in the mysteries you read?

Leaden Skies gets nod from author Stephanie Barron

2009-05-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Wowzers! I'm interrupting my musings about Malice Domestic to share this blurb from Stephanie Barron (author of the Jane Austen mysteries) re: Leaden Skies. I'm walking on air ... without the benefit of JetBlue!

Parker’s deft evocation of a lost era in Western American history—the life of the mining boom town—and her complex characterization make Leaden Skies an absorbing read. Her final, cliff-hanging sentence will make every reader desperate for the next installment in Inez Stannert’s epic tale. A riveting historical mystery.
—Stephanie Barron

Zeroing in on "the bad guy"

2009-05-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

I'm very much enjoying the Malice Domestic convention here in Washington D.C. One of the things I love about this convention and others is that I always pick up writing tidbits and "food for thought." Today's tidbit has to do with writing/creating villians, i.e., the antagonists or "bad guys" in mysteries ... a tidbit that I'm going to share with you.

Author Anne Perry, who is receiving the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement, had this bit of advice about getting to know the bad guy in your story:

"Write your story from the antagonist's point of view."

What a great way to see if the actions and the motivations of the "villain of the piece" make sense and ring true.

Something I'm going to try in the future!

Chester Campbell: Writing the private eye novel

2009-04-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Today, I'm pleased to turn the posting-podium over to Chester Campbell. Chester has written four books in the Greg McKenzie Mystery Series featuring a retired Air Force investigator and his wife. Just released by Night Shadows Press, The Surest Poison is the first book in his Sid Chance Mystery Series. Currently secretary of the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and president of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of Sisters in Crime, Chester lives in Madison, TN with his wife, Sarah, and an 11-year-old grandson. Take it away, Chester!

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The Private Eye Novel has been a favorite of American reading audiences since back in the thirties. Its early popularity grew out of such characters as Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade, Ross Macdonald’s Lew Archer, and John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee. Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon has become an American fiction classic. There is no shortage of definitions for the detectives who populate these stories. Probably the most definitive is the one used by the Private Eye Writers of America in picking winners for its annual Shamus Awards.

They define a “private eye” as any mystery protagonist who is a professional investigator, but not a police officer or government agent.

I had no idea of creating a PI when I started writing about Greg McKenzie, a retired Air Force OSI agent, the protagonist of my first four mystery novels. In fact, I wasn’t even thinking series. The first book involved a hostage taking, and I wanted a character with investigative experience who would have all the tools he needed to compete with the bad guys and rescue his wife. While working on that story, I consulted with the Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Special Investigations at Arnold Air Force Base.

It wasn’t until the end of the second book that I realized Greg and his wife were perfectly suited to get into the private investigation business. The last two books have dealt with cases they took on with unexpected results. A few reviewers referred to the books as cozies, though I didn’t see them that way.

If you’ve never been in law enforcement, how do you learn the basics of writing about private investigators? It helps if you’ve been a newspaper reporter. They use some of the same techniques as detectives. Also you read a lot about PIs, both in fiction and fact. I have two books about private investigation written by two working pros I know personally.

I was surprised when I got a review of the third Greg McKenzie book that started out, “If you’re interested in seeing how a real private detective works try Chester Campbell’s Deadly Illusions.”

That was only topped by a review of the fourth book that began, "The Marathon Murders is a skillfully woven tale that shows detective fiction wannabes how it’s supposed to be done.”

Although I enjoyed penning the exploits of Greg and Jill McKenzie, I wanted to try my hand at a more gritty private eye story. So I conjured up Sidney Lanier (Sid) Chance, a Green Beret in Vietnam, a National Parks ranger for 19 years, and a small town police chief for another 10. He left the NPS after being shot and quit his police job over false accusations of bribery.

Sid is the protagonist in The Surest Poison, first book in the new series. Apparently I succeeded in telling a more hard-boiled tale since one reviewer said I was channeling my love for the written word “into the kind of fiction writing that those with a penchant for Lawrence Block can enjoy.” If you don’t know Larry Block, he writes really hard-boiled stuff and is one of Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Masters.

So what’s the secret to writing believable private eyes? In my view it’s keeping your detective’s eyes and ears tuned to pick up any lead, whether it be a phone call, a scrap of paper found at a crime scene, a casual observation by a witness, and following it wherever the trail takes him. And you’d better obstruct the trail with plenty of boulders and booby traps.

The early PIs were strictly loners, but as the twentieth century wound down, it became popular to give private investigators sidekicks. Jasmine (Jaz) LeMieux fills the spot for Sid Chance, though she’s not like any sidekick I’ve encountered before. She’s rich, being majority owner and board chairman of a chain of truck stops, but followed a pretty weird path in getting there. After quitting college over a disagreement with her basketball coach, she served in the Air Force Security Police, was a professional boxer, and worked as a Metro Nashville policewoman.

Barbara Norville, in her book Writing the Modern Mystery, says “the primary attribute of the private eye is his unique sense of justice, and this is the theme of all private eye novels.” I agree, and it’s the raison d’etre for my PIs. As we learn about Sid Chance, “the possibility of taking a twisted situation and making things right was the lure that kept him in the business.”
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Today’s visit is part of Chester's Blog Book Tour for The Surest Poison. He will give away several copies of his books during the tour, which runs through May 1. Leave a comment here and you may be a winner in the contest. For more details go to his Mystery Mania blog.

PW covers Leaden Skies

2009-04-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, Leaden Skies sighted again, this time in Publishers Weekly, March 30 issue. Hope you don't mind if I quote the whole thing, right down to the ISBN, because how often does this happen in a lifetime anyway?

Leaden Skies Ann Parker. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (298p) ISBN 978-1-59058-577-1
The July 1880 visit of former president Ulysses S. Grant to the mining community of Leadville, Colo., sparks Parker's third mystery (after 2006's Iron Ties), a twisty tale of murder and ambition. Saloon co-owner Inez Stannert is preoccupied with divorcing her missing husband, her affair with the local minister and her secret business partnership with the local madam when one of the madam's prostitutes is first attacked and later killed. Eager to protect her investment, Inez begins to look into the case, confronting mine owners with personal agendas; local politicians; zealous journalists; a mapmaker with a past; a determined mother with aspirations for her wastrel son; a prostitute with family obligations and hopes for a better life; and a ruthless city tax collector, appropriately nicknamed the Hatchet. Parker is proficient in showing the crossroads between civilization and the frontier, including emerging new roles for women. A cliffhanger ending sets a promising stage for the next installment. (July)

I feel like I can now breathe again. I've received some early individual reader/reviewer comments (see previous post), and Publishers Weekly has weighed in, all to the good.

I've heard some authors say they never read reviews of their books, and I wonder ... how do they do it? I could no more ignore/not read a review than I could not sleep. Not sneeze. Not eat chocolate. Doesn't mean I take everything as gospel (because I know that each and every reader approaches a book differently), but to ignore or not pay attention to what they say? A major joy of writing (for me) is telling stories, weaving a tale. And the telling requires a listener, a reader. Otherwise, why not just spin stories for myself. So, to not listen to what readers have to say seems odd. In my day job, I always have the audience in mind. Why should fiction be different?

Writers, readers, what do you think?

Leaden Skies sighted on the horizon . . .

2009-03-22T15:52:00.000-07:00

I always hold my breath until I get the first review on a new book—a review, that is, from someone unrelated to me and not obligated in any way to "like" it (i.e., unbiased data).

So far, three reviews of Leaden Skies have emerged, all written by early readers of the ARC version of the book. LJ Roberts was first out the gate with a review, now posted on Goodreads, closely followed by Diane (both can be viewed here). C.K. Crigger also posted a review on her blog.

I love hearing from readers on what worked and what didn't. I always take the "this didn't work for me" comments under advisement. And, if I see a "pattern" of comments regarding something in particular, I tuck that into my thinking for the future.

Now, in the time-honored tradition of picking out "favorite bits" from reviews to broadcast:

... Parker’s wonderful characters and excellent dialogue enhance the qualities of this book. What really sets it apart, however, is that indefinable voice which makes a particular author such a pleasure to read...I highly recommend starting at the beginning of this wonderful series. —LJ Roberts

This book is the 3rd in a series of historical myteries set in Leadville's boom days. I enjoyed this one (as well as the prior two) and think that Parker does a very good job of transporting the reader back in time.—Diane

...Filled with history, action, and emotional realism, it’s a story that will leave you feeling you’ve made contact with the folks who live in Leadville. There’s never a dull moment; somebody is always trying to take advantage of someone else. Some folks are moral, some not. All are interesting. And the book ends with a darn good cliffhanger, making sure to leave you wanting more. —C.K. Crigger

Dardos Award....

2009-03-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

Cheryl C. Maladrinos of The Book Connection was kind enough to bestow the Premio Dardos Award on the Silver Rush blog. Premio Dardos means ‘prize darts’ in Italian and it is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing. The rules are:

1) Accept the award by posting it on your blog along with the name of the person who has granted the award and a link to his/her blog.

2) Pass the award to another 15 blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment, remembering to contact each of them to let them know they have been selected for this award.
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Now, I hope I don't have to give this award back, because I'm going to come up short on the number 15 here. In any case...

I now pass this honor along to:

Margaret Grace: Killer Hobbies
Susan Chernak McElroy: Animals as Teachers and Healers
Claire Johnson: Roux Morgue
Laurie Powers: Wild West
Beverle Graves Myers: Cruel Music

Only five, but all very interesting and very different. Check them out and see what you think!

Where Do Your Ideas Come From?

2009-03-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

A guest post today from author Marilyn Meredith! Under the name of F.M. Meredith, Marilyn writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. The latest is No Sanctuary from Oak Tree Press. She is also the author of award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series as well as over twenty published novels. The latest entry in the Deputy Crabtree series is Kindred Spirits from Mundania Press. You can visit her here and find out more about her and her series. So, Marilyn, tell us, where do you get your ideas?
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. . . That’s a question I often am asked, along with the one “Are you writing about yourself?”

For the first question, the ideas for my Rocky Bluff crime series come from many places. In the beginning, it was my police officer son-in-law who first piqued my interest in law enforcement. After his shift, he’d come to my house for coffee and tell me about his exciting adventures.

Once he took me on a ride-along, after making me promise to not tell anyone I was his mother-in-law. I admired the way he was able to calmly talk down volatile situations.

When we moved into the first home we could afford to buy, we found that the neighborhood was populated with police officers and their families. After becoming friends with them, I soon realized how the job affected their family life and what happened in the family affected the job. That is a theme I’ve focused on throughout the Rocky Bluff series.

Since then, I’ve been on other ride-alongs with a small department including one with the only female officer. From 3 a.m. until 6 a.m. she didn’t receive a single call. We drove around and she told me all about how difficult it was to be the only woman in such a male oriented job, and the trials of being a single mother. Some of what she told me has been a part of the main character, Officer Stacey Wilbur, in the latest book, No Sanctuary.

I’ve been a member of Sisters in Crime for years, and in fact was one of the founding members of the San Joaquin chapter. In No Sanctuary there is an incident about a pedophile that I borrowed from a case described by a female vice-officer at one of our Sisters in Crime meetings.

In fact, I’ve used a lot of information I’ve learned from other law enforcement officers, coroners, profilers and other experts who’ve spoken at the chapter’s meetings.

Fortunately, I’m also a member of the Public Safety Writers Association, which was organized by police officers who were also authors. They welcome any writers who are writing fiction or non-fiction about any area of public safety. Over the years I’ve become good friends with many of the members who are very generous about giving me information.

Onto the second question as to whether I’m writing about myself—or is there any resemblance to my main character and me. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a great-grandmother and look it. Except for being female and a mother, I have nothing in common with Stacey Wilbur or any of the other women who populate my books.

However, when I’m writing about one of my characters, whether it be Stacey or someone else, I get inside that person and look out through their eyes—experience what is going on as they are experiencing it so I can describe the scene and the action as the characters see and feel it. For me, it’s the only way to get the emotion and action right.

No Sanctuary is also about two churches, two ministers and their wives. Since I was child, I’ve been a regular church goer. Churches, like their leaders and the people who attend, seem to have their own unique personalities. I’ve never attended churches exactly like the two in the story, though there are similarities. And fortunately, never have the ministers of the churches I’ve gone to acted quite like those in this novel.

A reviewer for the previous offering in the Rocky Bluff series, Smell of Death, said, “The cops of fictional Rocky Bluff PD have lives that extend beyond the chase and the crime scene. There are no CSI magical antics to be found here, there are no courtroom theatrics, and no hyper-intuitive detectives, just hard working cops doing the sort of methodical spadework that probably solves most real life crimes.” That pretty much sums up what I’ve tried to do with this series.

As an added note, as a great believer that there should be a touch of romance in every book of fiction, whether it be a mystery, science-fiction, or fantasy, the romance between Officer Stacey Wilbur, despite her vow to never date anyone on the Rocky Bluff PD, and Detective Doug Milligan does heat up a bit—though there are obstacles.

Thank you, Marilyn!

No Sanctuary is available as a Dark Oak Mystery from http://www.oaktreebooks and from Amazon, and autographed copies from the author at http://fictionforyou.com

Demise of the Rocky Mountain News

2009-02-28T18:23:00.000-08:00

I have much to celebrate—the end of my ARC proofing for Leaden Skies (take that you dastardly em-dashes, ellipses, apostrophes, and fragments!), more work projects on the horizon (yay! money in the checking account!), a chance to focus to a short story I've been working on haphazardly, re-connecting with an old friend ... but right now, I wanted to pause a moment, and say farewell to the Rocky Mountain News.

Everything, everyone, has a time and a season, true, but it's particularly sad to see this newspaper come to an end. As a child visiting my grandparents in Denver (and, later, as a young adult visiting my aunt in Arvada), I recall paging through the newspaper, being intrigued by news (and certainly, when I was a wee one, by the comics) that were so different from the California Bay Area newspapers of "home."

Only much later did I come to appreciate the history held within its pages as I scrolled through frames of microfiche at the Denver Public Library and, more recently, perused back issues on the Colorado Historical Newspapers website. You can read a bit about the newspaper's beginnings here. I'm particularly intrigued by the fact that the original site was the second-floor attic of a saloon near the Market St. bridge in Auraria (Auraria being one of the three towns that would eventually form "Denver").

In a larger context, though, this all makes me consider the ethereal nature of information in today's world compared to the past. The internet is all well and good, but, 150 years from now, what will remain of blogs (for instance), websites, twitters, internet-only-news-venues? In 2159, will historians looking back at 2009 have as wide a window as we do right now for 1859? To view life in 1859, we can turn to old newspapers, handwritten letters, journals, diaries and more. What will future historians have?

Something to think about, as yet another newspaper with a rich and varied history closes its doors.

The Accursed Apostrophe

2009-02-18T22:54:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am one of those people who knows the difference between it's and its. I'm a writer and an editor, so I'd better know how to use 'em correctly. Most of the time, I simply go along and do what I have to do, but there are times, when I am in editing or proofing mode, when I become hypervigilant and (dare I say) hypersensitive to apostrophes, commas, semicolons, quotemarks, and other matters of punctuation.

This, for better or worse, is one of those times. Not only am I carving my way through a safety manual, pen a-twitching (although since I'm working on an electronic file, perhaps pen isn't the right word here), I am also editing/critiquing two-and-a-half manuscripts or parts thereof, and making a last past (which feels more like a last gasp) through an ARC of Leaden Skies, the next book in my Silver Rush historical mystery series. (ARC, for those who don't know, stands for "Advance Readers Copy" otherwise known as an "Uncorrected Proof.")

For some reason, misused and abused apostrophes are raining down upon me in nearly all these projects. Including, alas, my own.

The problem with Leaden Skies came about from turning apostrophes in my electronic file from "curly" to "straight" (in Word parlance). I have more than a few characters who, in dialogue, drop parts of words, as in "Don't let 'er get away with misusin' and abusin' those bits of punctuation, 'cause it ain't right." Where a backwards apostrophe leads the way, disaster struck, in the form of some mysterious electronic plague that automatically made what should have been backwards NOT.

In looking around, I find there are others sensitive to this, my current obsession. However, most other folks who remark upon the sad and sorry apostrophical fate are typesetters or fans of typography. Such as here, on John D. Berry's Easily Amused blog. And here, on the I love typography blog (which also has, I see, a post titled "Who Shot the Serif?" . . . I think I've found a new blog to follow).
It's nice to know I'm not alone.

Happy Friday the 13th! (really!)

2009-02-13T16:58:00.000-08:00

Friday the 13th! One of my most favorite days!

And why not? My husband was born on a rainy, stormy, Friday the 13th. That gives me all the reason I need to look forward and celebrate each TGIF day that bears this most elegant of numbers.

Beginning of slight digression:
Why elegant, you may ask? Well, to begin with, there's the contrasting visual form of the number "13": a straight line, unbending, paired with such lovely curves. And then, "1" is such an interesting number, mathematically speaking: not prime, not composite, in a class by itself. As for "3" ... it's the first ODD prime number. And think of all the things that come in threes in this world. I won't enumerate (ha! little joke), but will let you contemplate and come up with examples, if you wish.
End of slight digression

I find superstitions, in general, fascinating and like to take a contrarian view, when safety isn't involved. For instance, walk beneath a ladder? Nooo thank you, but not for superstition's sake. (I'm editing a safety manual for the nonce, and believe me, I could obsess for a long time here about the safety aspects of ladders and scaffolds.) Same goes for breaking a mirror, which can lead to nasty slivers in the feet if it happens in the bathroom. But equating these to bad luck? Bad luck happens randomly, just as good luck does. At least, that's how I look at it.

I've nothing against black cats—those little bits of living shadow that can be friendly, stand-offish, or downright nasty (as can cats of any other color). As for cracks in the sidewalks? I recall as a young child regarding the cracks in the sidewalks quite fondly. I tried to mentally shape them into recognizable shapes and pictures, and, after school, traveled the continuous straight-line crack between sidewalk paving squares to home.

To keep this on topic (sort of), here are some Victorian superstitions I found at the Friends of Oak Grove Cemetery site.

Large drops of rain warn that there has just been a death.
Having only red and white flowers together in a vase (especially in hospital) means a death will soon follow.

Dropping an umbrella on the floor or opening one in the house means that there will be a murder in the house.
A diamond-shaped fold in clean linen portends death.

... And here are two more (not necessarily Victorian) from a superstition-a-day calendar I have lying around:

Prevent nosebleeds by tying a pure lead ball on a ribbon around your neck, so that it rests in the hollow of your collarbones. If someone already has a nosebleed, cure it by putting a key down their back.

Don't knit socks for a loved one, as wearing them will make that person walk away from you.

As a writer of fiction, I figure all this is fair game for scheming, plotting, and character development.

What about you? Do you have some favorite/interesting/unusual superstitions to share?

Death and Taxes

2009-02-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

Certainty? In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes.
—Benjamin Franklin

In the modern mystery, death is usually a critical element, a certainty. If there isn't a body somewhere pretty early on in the story, most mystery readers get a little itchy and twitchy and wonder what's up. And, truthfully, I love exploring death (fictionally speaking). I can spend endless hours researching sneaky ways to kill people circa 1880 and thereabouts, and I love setting up and (ahem) executing the murder scene(s) in my books.

However, regarding the second half of Benjamin Franklin's observation, all I have to say is Bah!

I have a technical/scientific background, so you'd think that taxes would be a snap, right? It's only numbers. It's math. It's logic. For heaven's sake, we're talking basic arithmetic here—add, subtract, multiply, divide—not calculus or complex number theory. The financials of my writing/editing consultancy business (which includes my fiction efforts) should theoretically be neatly bound, gagged, and overdosed with Quicken and Excel. All those little numbers showing profit and loss, income and expenses, should be subdued and ready for delivery well before mid-April.

Unfortunately, my financial process is akin to my process for researching methods of death and destruction. Usually, when researching for fiction, I'm bouncing from book to book, website to website, landing on random facts, thinking "hmmm, that's interesting, and perhaps useful," stashing it away mentally (or on a random sticky note) before zipping off in another, tangential direction. In the financial realm, my approach is similarly random. Receipts are crammed willy-nilly into my wallet until the wallet is too full to close, whereupon the crumpled bits of paper are regurgitated into a paper bag (yes, that's what I said, a paper bag). Now, the wallet is free to feed again, and the process repeats. As for statements, consulting contracts, and so on, they alight on whatever surface is at hand upon my entering the house. There they linger, to become buried beneath equally important papers, until I can corral them into the all-consuming paper bag.

When the time comes to "deal with it," the paper bag is emptied onto the dining table, which cannot be used for dining until taxes are done.

In fiction writing, it's fun to toss motives, method, characters, location and era all into a big jumble, shake 'em up, and see what comes of it.

Unfortunately, the same process when applied to taxes does not yield a very satisfying result.

And that, dear Benjamin, is a certainty.

For love of words

2009-02-04T09:22:00.000-08:00

Over the past few days, I've been thinking a great deal about my publisher's gift of tens of thousands of books to the Florida schools.

Then, I began to wonder, what do I do to encourage a love of and support the written word? Particularly regarding kids?

Okay, so here we go:

List at least five things you do to support and spread a love of the written word, and tag five people. (If you list something that touches youngsters, you get a bonus letter!)

I am a writer of fiction, science, and technology.
I always keep the reader in mind and craft my prose accordingly (particularly for the last two).
I go to schools and classrooms and talk about careers in writing/editing (being sure to mention more than just "author of books" route . . . after all, SOMEone writes the copy in a catalog, right?).
Over the years, I've volunteered in elementary school classrooms, helping kids who are having difficulty reading.
I've gone to the library regularly, all my life (so far!), and made sure my kids did the same.
I've been a judge for poetry and young adult fiction awards.

Wow! Two bonus letters! I pick and "S" and an "R" (for the Silver Rush)!
Okay, I'm tagging ...

The ARC of LEADEN SKIES is IN!

2009-02-01T14:20:00.001-08:00

What else is there to say?? Holding the ARC (Advanced Readers Copy, otherwise known as an uncorrected proof) in my hands makes this all real. The story and characters I've dreamt about and sweated over are no longer just bits in my mind or files in the computer, but captured in a bound copy for others to read.

I don't know if folks who have umpty-ump books under their belts get the same jolt as I do on receiving their ARCs, but it's a funny feeling. A combination of "wow!" and "last chance!" as this is my last chance to make corrections and teeny changes.

Time to "clear the decks" as much as possible at home and work so I can give it the eyeball. Alas, I was too late to get my Author's Note included in the ARC, but at least it'll make it into the final book itself. And, the ARC has Michael Greer's lovely map of Leadville and drawing of the Silver Queen Saloon!

BPP (Blatant Publisher Promotion)

2009-01-30T20:08:00.000-08:00

. . . Not to be confused with BCP (blatant chocolate promotion) or BSP (blatant self-promotion), I'm going to take this post to indulge in some BPP (blatant publisher promotion). Here's a round of applause and hearty huzzahs to my publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, which just gave away 43,000 books to the Central Florida Schools! Is that cool or what?

The Press's first-ever annual Great Mystery Book Giveaway is part of the National Education Association’s Read Across America program. You can download the press release and read about it here. Makes me proud to be a member of the PPP posse!

Hmmm. Wonder if there were any copies of Iron Ties or Silver Lies in that huge stack o' books?

Okay, the science/technical writer part of my brain just can't leave it at that. I had to calculate how tall a stack of books that might be, if they were stacked up like the little image to the left. Let's assume each book is about one inch thick. That's 43,000 inches, which is 3,583 feet, which is . . . holy guacamole . . . about 2/3 of a mile (0.678655 mile to be precise, which would be a skyscraper of about 358 stories tall, assuming a story is 10 feet).

That's a whole lot of books!

Hurray for the Press!

Author Notes? Do you read 'em?

2009-01-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

I am thrashing through the draft of a much-belated Author's Note for Leaden Skies (good thing my notes appear at the end of my books), and have a question:

Do you read Author Notes/Afterwords/whateveryoucallem ... those little essays at the end of books that discuss references, give more background on time/place of a novel/reveal a bit of the author's thinking for that particular book?

See my little survey, off to the left, and let me know.

I've been told reviewers don't read them. I guess I'm wondering about readers in general, and if these notes are worth the fuss and bother of writing them. It does take a fair bit of time to plow through my old notes (e-notes and hard copy), pull together the references I've used, and then try to weave it all into a coherent essay. So, I'd love to know what you think.

Thank you, one and all!

Getting away from it all . . .

2009-01-27T22:31:00.000-08:00

. . . is nice (as we managed to do this weekend).

However, "coming back to it all" can be a bit of a shock to the system. We're dealing with an avalanche of issues, so I'll leave you with this serene photo of snow and (nearly obliterated) "snowfolk." Perhaps tomorrow, I'll finally be up to speed again.

Doing the happy dance

2009-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by Dani of Blog Book Tours to come up with six things that make me happy. Okay, in no particular order, off the top of my head, here goes:

Having it snow outside when I'm all warm and cozy inside.
Chocolate. Any kind, but preferably dark.
The smell and sound of rain.
Those "Kodak moments" with my family, siblings, friends . . . you know, those little timeslices that you remember for years afterwards, trival moments or not.
Coming to THE END of the first draft! (YaY!)
Being paid for my efforts, especially in these challenging financial times. (I just love holding a check in my hands that's written to me...)

In the spirit of Blog Book Tours' blog-a-day challenge for January, I'm tagging five from that blogroll:

Go forth and do what makes ya happy on this Monday!

Letters: Windows to the past (Part 4)

2009-01-24T22:30:00.000-08:00

For this weekend post, I'm thinking of food. Not a head-to-the-supermarket-grab-something-from-the-freezer type food. But food you could obtain in 1879 in Leadville, before the advent of trains.

Toward the end of February, young George Elder was taking his meals at the Tontine, a very fashionable restaurant in Leadville. In his letter of February 26, 1879, he wrote to his parents in Philadelphia:

. . . As to the material of my meals I live very well though I doubt if any one at the Tontine where I board lives as cheaply. Liver, ham, eggs, mutton and beefsteak are my standards. I drink no coffee or tea and thus the extra 10 cents I can put in something else. Milk cannot be had for love or money. Eggs are up so high that two fried eggs come at 25 cents . . .

Using the Measuring Worth site, that 10-cent cuppa equates to a $2.14 cup of java today. And, trust me, we're not talking lattes in 1879. Those two fried eggs at a quarter? You'd be paying $5.36 for them in 2007. Given that the daily wage in the mines were about $3.50 (that's $75.05 in today's money), you can see that only the wealthy were ordering fried eggs for breakfast on a regular basis.

BCP (Blatant Chocolate Promotion) results

2009-01-23T22:30:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a break from "Letters: Windows to the past" to announce the results of my informal chocolate survey.

The 19 respondents voted as follows:
13 -- dark chocolate rules
2 -- milk chocolate preferred
2 -- white (is that really chocolate?) chocolate
2 -- none of the above

So, based on this admittedly unscientific sampling, I'd say I'd better stock up on dark chocolate, but not neglect the other types, when I take to the road to promote Leaden Skies.

And for the two who said none of the above, perhaps a non-chocolate something-or-other. Hmmm. Being that the book comes out in July, probably something non-melty might be a good idea. . .

Letters: Windows to the past (Part 3)

2009-01-22T19:39:00.000-08:00

As I will be out of town for a few days, I'm going to try to set up posts to roll out automatically while I'm gone. We'll see if it works, or if they suddenly appear all at once!

Since some folks expressed interest in further excerpts of letters from Leadville, circa 1879, I thought I'd continue along that path for now. Here's a great bit that pretty much sums up the ambience of Leadville during these times, written by George Elder, a young man of about 22 and a recent arrival to town. The letter was written to his mother and is dated September 24, 1879:

. . . We had several dare devil murders the last few days so that some of the inhabitants are bound to keep the excitement up. Murders occur in such a terribly reckless manner that it is uncertain who will be the next victim. Pistols are drawn so quickly and most of them are these self-cockers that are almost as dangerous to the owners as to his enemies. I have lost all fear and it seems to me that a man cannot help becoming like the country out here. I carry my revolver about me in the night time and I do not think the small amount of Quaker blood in me would be any hindrance to my swift and immediate use. No man dare flourish a revolver and threaten to shoot as it is the invariable rule to fire at once and count the cost afterwards. A murderer is safer in Leadville than a Horsethief. . . .

I love to quote this passage in response to the general question of "What was Leadville really like?" Reading this section aloud has its own pleasures as well, in the cadence, the easy way the words roll along, and that wonderfully short, energetic concluding statement (which is oh so "Wild West"):

A murderer is safer in Leadville than a Horsethief.

Now that's something to ponder. As in the passage I quoted in Letters: Part 2, it seems pretty clear that, if young George has the pulse of the town aright, one could easily "get away with murder." Or, to put it another way, the turmoil and upheaval of Leadville during its boom days give an amateur sleuth, such as my protagonist, Inez Stannert, some leeway for exploring crimes that the law—and others of the town—would simply ignore or consider no big deal, i.e., "Who was murdered? No horses were stolen? Well, then, who cares?"

Of course, Leadville wasn't all murderers, con artists, foot-pads, and disreputable women. It had its high society, its opera house, its high-profile visitors, its schools, hospitals, and so on. And that's part of what makes this such a fascinating place and time: people from all walks of life, from all over the world, came to Leadville thinking to strike it rich. And, as we know from the dot-com, real-estate, and stock-market boom-bust cycles, not all get rich. And even those who do, may not hang onto it for long.

Too, when the haves, with money burning holes in their pockets, are rubbing shoulders daily with the have-nots, in a country where simply "getting by" is expensive, where weather is extreme, and everyone is consumed with silver-fever . . . As George noted, "a man cannot help becoming like the country out here." It's no wonder there was occasional casual murder in the streets and numbing desperation and despair in some minds.

Letters: Windows to the past (Part 2)

2009-01-19T12:32:00.000-08:00

In my last post, I quoted a bit from the letters of George Elder, a young man who ventured to the silver boomtown of Leadville in 1879 to make a future as a lawyer.

Regarding money and crime (two topics of endless fascination to me in the pursuit of veracity in fiction), George had some interesting comments in his November 16, 1879, letter to his mother:

. . . Last night two-foot-pads held up the hands of a man who had a long Navy self-cocker in one of them and they were both killed. Every-body says "serves them right" and I do not think the man who killed them will be hung as foot-pads are the most dangerous enemies of our people here. I am glad some of them are meeting with their desserts. Most men here carry sums about them varying from $50 up to the hundreds of dollars so that the field is a very lucrative one for the highwaymen. . . .

Okay, what treasures we can glean from this little gem? First things first: Money. Today, $50 hardly buys you groceries. First thing I wondered in reading this passage: How much was $50 back in 1879?

Thanks to the very neat-o little website Measuring Worth, which includes a little calculator that computes the relative value of U.S. dollars from 1774 to 2007, I was able to figure this out. So, hold on to your seat for this:
$50 in 1879 had the same "purchase power" as $1072.09 in 2007.

Now, think of those "several hundred dollars." Let's pick, oh say, $300 and see what we get. Back in 1879, that $300 stuffed into pockets or satchels equates to $6432.53.

Yes, I can see where robbery would be a lucrative business in old-time Leadville.

What else can I harvest from this letter? How about terms and slang? "foot-pad," "highwaymen," "serves them right," "just desserts." I can, without qualms, now use these words and terms in my fictional exploits with the knowledge that they are current to the times.

What else? How about the fact that "Navy self-cockers" were being carried and employed, the fact that the criminals were stupid enough to shout "raise your hands high" to someone who was actually carrying a gun in one of them, and that the person shot them and will probably receive no punishment?

And, I could go on.

Not the least question that occurred to me: He wrote this to his mother?? If I were young George's mother and had received this letter, I'd be sending him a ticket on the first stage home! But, back then, a 22-year-old son was considered a man, ready to take up the challenges and rewards, fully capable of making his own way, far from home. An attitude not quite as common today, where many 22-year-olds are viewed and treated as just slightly older teenagers. Authors of historical fiction, myself included, have to be conscious of our own suppositions, expectations, and beliefs, and do a little "mind-travel" when creating our worlds of the past.

So, perhaps this will give you some insight into my thinking and why I value these letters and the folks who so generously shared them with me, so very highly.

What about you? Do you see some other things in this passage that shed light on the past?

Letters: Windows to the past

2009-01-17T15:46:00.000-08:00

When it comes to researching the past, I can't leave the topic without mentioning letters as a treasure trove of material, shedding light onto life in the past.

I am particularly indebted to a long-ago fellow named George Elder, who, as a very young man, ventured to Leadville in January 1879, hoping to make his fortune as a lawyer. Young George—who possessed a perceptive eye and a well-versed pen—wrote home regularly. Thanks to George's grandson and his wife, who I acknowledge in every single Leadville book I write, I have typed transcriptions of those letters.

I could probably spend the rest of the month January quoting bits of George's letters here on my blog (hmmm, not a bad idea, that) and discussing where I went from there. For now, I'll start with a couple quotes.

This is from George's January 29, 1879 letter:

My dear Parents,
I wrote you a day or so ago but I am now in possession of more facts concerning the place. I find things are even higher in price than I thoughts . . . I shall be compelled to pay $25 for a office per month. The one I have selected is 13 ft by 10 ft and the floor very roughly made as also the walk. . . . The Tontine where I now stop charges $4 per day for all parties though my meals have cost me on the average 45 cents. I guess I pay about $2 per day. . . . A man without money here might as well give up at once if he is a professional man. Laborers are well paid $3.50 to $4.50 being the wages in the mines and at the smelters. The streets are very much crowded and rival some of the busy streets of the Eastern cities. . . .

A couple of things strike me about this passage: Note the costs. A miner, making $3.50 a day, could no way no how afford staying at the Tontine. And three meals would cost more than a third of his daily wages. Think about that. Second, the streets were crowded—think New York, Philadelphia—but this is 10,000 feet up in the Rocky Mountains. And more were coming in daily. In this letter, George continues,

The excitement about the mines is booming along and people are coming in at the rate of 60 to 100 per day.

These people came by stage, by foot, by horse, in the dead of winter. No trains to Leadville, yet. Can you imagine the shock of some folks when they finally got to town only to discover that rooms were scarce and prices high? What would they do? Try to leave? Turn to crime?

More tomorrow from George's letters. And then, we'll see where my random blog-walks take me from there.

The Ted Kierscey Collection

2009-01-15T19:03:00.000-08:00

If you love Colorado history and old photographs (which I do), the Ted Kierscey Collection is something to behold. They have a nice capsule history of Leadville, and some great photographs. While I was writing Iron Ties, I turned to this site frequently for a look-see at what the Denver & Rio Grande was up to in 1880 around Leadville. I'd love to show the images here, but don't want to run afoul of copyright issues. So, here are the links instead, along with some of the things that draw me to the images:

Miners at the Carbonate Mine (1881) — What fascinates me: the faces and the clothing.
Blacksmith shop (1880) — What fascinates me: same as above, and the building and signage (are the words painted on canvas or . . . ?).
Park City up Stray Horse Gulch - 2 miles east of Leadville (1880) — What fascinates me: The trees (they weren't all cut down!), the "street" (pretty much an ankle twister . . . imagine what it was like when it rained), the buildings (false fronts and all). I'll have to research "Park City" someday, and find out more about it.

Anyone else out there like to scrutinize photographs for writerly inspiration and research? If you have some favorite sites, let us know.

Fly like a butterfly . . .

2009-01-14T20:20:00.001-08:00

Thank you, Joan de la Haye, for bestowing a Butterfly Award to the Silver Rush Mysteries blog! Like Joan, I'm pretty new to all this. Here's hoping I do this right. Joan had some information and instructions on her blog, so this is what it's all about (in Joan's words):

This is a ‘meme’ award (what ever that means), but who cares. It’s fun and it’s sweet. [! I agree! AP] So, the rules for passing it along are 1. Put the logo on your blog. 2. Add a link to the person who awarded you. 3. Award up to ten other blogs. 4. Add links to those blogs on yours. 5. Leave a message for your awardees on their blogs.

Okay, I decided to set some personal guidelines for passing this award along (so as to not have to consider every blog in the Universe and Beyond). So, all my awardees are blogs that are engaged in the Blog Book Tour's blog-a-day challenge for January.

And I'm passing the baton, er, butterfly on to:

Go forth and check out these blogs, if you haven't had a chance to . . .

Another favorite Colorado publication . . .

2009-01-13T19:52:00.000-08:00

. . . Having featured the Leadville Herald Democrat newspaper yesterday, I thought I'd mention another regional publication I enjoy and subscribe to: Colorado Central. Published monthly by Martha and Ed Quillen of Salida, Colorado Central always delivers. At least, for this "flat-lander" (because that is what I am, living, as I do, a whole whopping 480 feet above sea level).

Besides allowing me to keep up-to-date on what's what and who's who in the Central Colorado region (which includes Leadville, Salida, and a whole lot more), Colorado Central is one of those lovely publications where one is rewarded for reading the small print. For instance, in the Credits section of the December 2008 issue, "Other" reads:

Proofreading by Matt Gonzales and Sally Gonzales. Everything else is the fault of Martha and Ed Quillen, though mostly Ed because he was on the road a lot, and suffered much distraction from various political campaigns.

The masthead on the cover also features different tag lines for every issue that bear careful scrutiny:

(For December 2008) The Monthly Magazine for People who wish the days were a bit longer.
(For August 2008) The Monthly Magazine for People who wonder how summer could pass so quickly.

In the table of contents, the one-sentence descriptions of the articles and regular departments often display the same sense of . . . dare I say, playfulness? For example, from the December 2008 issue:

The non-lure of the wild
It's hard to understand how modern kids could resist playing outdoors, but they do.

Keeping Track
An election prediction gone awry, mining and renewable energy, windmills and zoning, cartoons, and news and comment from all around.

Agenda
We wonder if anyone reads this line. [! I do! I do!]

After all these years
The redemptive power of higher forms of craziness.

Water Update
Keeping up with what's wet.

The magazine's website has an archive where you can sample past issues. (Sliding in a little under-the-radar BSP: If you'd like to see what Ed thought of Iron Ties, the second in my mystery series, see the August 2006 issue.) I suggest you go check out Colorado Central. Publications like these are rare, and better than gold. Or should I say, silver?

Happy New Year's Eve . . . at 10,000 feet in 1878

2009-01-12T21:25:00.000-08:00

I'm thrashing around in my office, trying to identify and pull together all the receipts, statements, etc., that I need for tax season (yuck), and incidentally catching up (at least a little) with the piles of paper everywhere.

In the process, I found a great article in Leadville's Herald Democrat newspaper, a newspaper to which I subscribe and devour avidly (although often belatedly, as life gets in the way of newspaper reading). Anyhow, page 4 of the January 1, 2009, issue, has a reprint an article from the Jan. 1, 1891 issue that hearkens back to how New Year's Eve was celebrated in 1878, the first year of the city's existence. This is such a great article, I just have to quote bits and pieces of it, to wit:

. . . upon no common ground, at any point in the universe, was there ever gathered as here such a conglomerate mass of diversified humanity—men of education and culture, graduates of Harvard, Yale and Princeton, mingling with ignorant and uncouth bullwackers, men of wealth mixing with adventurers of every degree without a sou in their pockets . . . men of refinement jostling against cheap variety actors and scarcely less masculine variety actresses; dance hall herders and others with callings less genteel; representatives of the better element in all callings of life, hopelessly entangled with the throngs of gamblers, bunco steerers, thugs, bullies, drunkards, escaped convicts, dead-beats, and the "scum of the earth" generally. . . .

Whew!
Had enough? No? Then how about:

. . . numerous barkeepers, almost fainting from exhaustion, strove hard to satisfy the thirst of the multitude that eddied back and forth between curbstone and bar. Poor indeed and unsatisfying was the meal that could be procured on that New Year's day for a dollar, while indifferent, if not positively bad whiskey readily commanded 25 cents a swallow.

Thank you, Herald Democrat!

This newspaper, which has been going in one form or another since 1879, is a real treasure and allows me to keep up on the city's current day activities as well as pick up tidbits from the past, such as in this reprint.

I not only love the descriptions of Leadville's New Year's Eve of old, which are worth their weight in silver (? Do descriptions have mass? Oh, nevermind.), but also the cadence and exuberance of the language. There's a certain rhythm and energy that I, as a writer and reader, admire. Of course, back then, truth was a commodity with a value that rose or fell depending on its ability to entertain. Hmmm. I can think of some places where that holds true today as well!

Absolutely Marvelous Map

2009-01-11T18:21:00.000-08:00

This map of Leadville, 1880, was created by Michael Greer, Greer Studios, for my Silver Rush series. Isn't it just the coolest thing?? I tried to make it larger in this post, but don't have the technical knowhow. Anyway, I love this map, and am scheming various ways to put it to use. My hope is, it could be included in Leaden Skies. Dani suggested bookplates, which I think is an absolutely nifty idea.

Anyone else think of things I could do with this? Maybe placemats to give away. Or put it on bookmarks. Or postcards. Or . . .

BCP

2009-01-10T15:59:00.000-08:00

BCP is not "bizarre charged particles" (a la science) nor "booze, crime, [and] politics" (a la Leaden Skies) but

Blatant Chocolate Promotion

You see, I give away chocolate when I promote my books (if there's any left over after a signing, they often don't make it home!). So, I'm wondering what kind people like.

Hence, the survey. Over there, to the left. No, further to the left, under my photo. (If you're like me, you probably focused on the chocolate photo and went no further .... :-) ).

Yes, yes, I know, this is a lightweight post. But it's the weekend, and I'd love to see the numbers.

For tomorrow, I have an Absolutely Marvelous Map (AMM) to share with everyone. So be sure to check back then ...

All the potential of the day . . .

2009-01-09T21:47:00.001-08:00

Well, folks, the potential energy I started with in the early part of the day has long since been converted to kinetic energy. At this point in the evening, I haven't much energy left for words. Happens sometimes. Heck, happens often, actually.

In any case, I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes by physicist/engineer Werner von Braun:

Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing.

So true, whether it's science or writing. A lot of wonderful "a-ha" moments occur during the thrashing around that one can call basic research/the creative process/etc.

Hmmmm. I like this quote. I sense there's much more to say about the subject (!... it has potential ...!).

I shall return to it when I have more energy.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this lovely photograph of both potential and kinetic energy to contemplate.

(courtesy of travelblog.org)

The acceleration of words . . .

2009-01-08T20:24:00.000-08:00

. . . As someone with a wee bit of science in my background, I love to see where the worlds of science and literature intersect. And not just in the subject matter (although I've read my share or more of science fiction/science fact over the years).

It has occurred to me (she pontificated) that the "motion," "act," "process" of writing involves a lot of physics. There's inertia: the tendency of an object in motion to remain in motion, or when at rest to remain at rest. Well, I've certainly experienced that moment when first sitting down to write, the moment of stillness. The moment of, "Where am I in this process? Where am I going? How do I do this? Am I crazy?" Sometimes, that "writing inertia" lasts a whole lot longer than a moment, even as I engage in a bit of mental chaos/random walk action as I, instead of writing, fold laundry, eat cookies, brew coffee, pay bills, and otherwise avoid the process of putting my rear in the chair and writing.

And who hasn't experienced the flip side of inertia? That wonderful process when the writing flows almost faster than one can type and, indeed, accelerates from mind to fingers to page, and all else disappears except the world one is creating.

But then, in the real world, there is always friction—the force that resists motion when the surfaces of two objects come into contact. Friction acting against the writing process can be that enormous pile of dirty clothes that have to be washed (else no one will have clean socks), the kids throwing blocks at each other in the family room, the dentist appointment that you must go to. Even more serious forces can come into play to work against writing: Loss of a job. The death of a loved one. Serious illness. . . . You get the picture.

Well, I won't get into quantum mechanics this time around, but will save that for another post.

I'll just finish by saying that when things are working well in the writing world, it can feel somewhat like hydrodynamics (the study of fluids in motion): At first it can seem uncertain and random, but given time, it develops, a structure or pattern grows, and it all begins to make sense in a most complex, magnificent dance.

Another bookstore bites the dust

2009-01-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

I was planning to blog more about editing today, but saw this article in the San Francisco Chronicle about Stacey's Bookstore planning to close in March. Stacey's has been around for 85 years. I thought back to the closing of Cody's Books, in Berkeley, and have the same feelings of shock and sorrow now as I did then.

Bookstores are like libraries to me: I couldn't do without them. I suppose they should have been on yesterday's list of addictions. But, in a way, they are there on an unspoken level. When I think of reading, I think of those libraries and bookstores that have been like a second home to me throughout my life, been like a breath to my soul and spirit.

Here's a few bookstores and libraries that are/have been like that for me. This is completely off the top of my head (and in completely random order).

Brick-and-mortar bookstores

Cody's Books (Berkeley)
Moe's Used Books (Berkeley)
The Book Mine (Leadville)
The Poisoned Pen (Scottsdale)
M is for Mystery (San Mateo)
San Francisco Mystery Bookstore (S.F.)
The Tattered Cover (Denver)
Murder by the Book (Denver)
High Crimes (Boulder)
Boulder Bookstore (Boulder)
Goodenough Books (Livermore)
Towne Center Books (Pleasanton)
The Book Haven (Salida)
Chinook Bookstore —— ?I think it was called this... I'm reaching a long way back in my memories to the 1970s for the name (Colorado Springs)

Okay, not to slight the other wonderful bookstores that weren't right "off the top of my head," but I've got to stop. Looking over the list, I realize that several of these no longer exist (or won't soon). How sad.

Now, libraries

The San Leandro Library (California)
The Castro Valley Library (California)
UC Berkeley's libraries—primarily Moffitt and Doe (California)
Denver Public Library (Colorado)
Boulder City Library (Colorado)
Pleasanton Library (California)
Livermore Public Library (California)
Lake County Library (Leadville, Colorado)

Anyone else want to mention bookstores and/or libraries that are or have been near and dear to them? If so, be my guest.

Of personal addictions and fabulous blogs

2009-01-06T23:33:00.000-08:00

Thank you, Morgan Mandel of Make Mine Mystery for naming The Silver Rush Mysteries blog as worthy of the "Your Blog is Fabulous" award.

I see that, according to Morgan, to qualify for a YBiF, I'm to reveal five addictions, and name five blogs I feel are fabulous. Hmmm. Okay, I'll give this a whirl.

Five things I "cannot do without" (i.e., addictions)

1. Coffee. And not just any coffee. Peet's or Panama Red are my faves. But I always carry a handful of cards for other coffee bars, just in case (see photo).

2. Dark chocolate.

3. Texting. Oh, this is embarrassing to admit, but . . . I've found that texting is the best way to stay in touch with my kid-at-college. (No, no, I'm not a helicopter parent, honest!) We have deep and meaningful conversations, which I treasure, such as the following, verbatim from yesterday. (Note the severe lack of punctuation and capitalization on both sides of the exchange.)

College Kid: "i think i left my towels at home"
Me: "They are in yr duffle"
College Kid: "oh ok"

4. Reading.

5. Writing. Of course!

5. 1. (Yes, I'm cheating a bit) My ancient, much beloved Original Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases, copyright 1965. I still remember the Christmas that I got it. What a wonderful gift!

Now, to nominate five blogs. This is very difficult. I'm still looking around and gathering blogs for my blog roll. And I assume this can include "corporate" type blogs? In any case, here goes.

My nominations for "Your Blog is Fabulous"

Mysterious Matters: Mystery Publishing Demystified
The Blood Red Pencil
The Rap Sheet
Writing for Hire
Short Sharp Science (because I'm a long-time fan of New Scientist magazine)

Whew. Is there anything else I'm supposed to do?
Hope not, because it's past midnight. Oh well. I'm still counting this as a blog for TUESDAY.

Good night and good luck.

In full edit mode...

2009-01-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

Now that Leaden Skies is off with my publisher (the wonderful Poisoned Pen Press), I'm turning about 90% of my writing/editing focus on projects under contract (the other 10% being reserved for blogs, email, Facebook——which I'm still learning——and such).

I'm editing a nonfiction ms right now and have become quite obsessed. Obsession is necessary, when in full copyedit mode. I'm merciless with dangling participles, subject-verb agreement, anarchic capitalization, questionable italics and quotemarks, so on and so forth. My 15th Edition of the Chicago Manual of Style is getting a workout.

And here's a photo for the season, taken by ice-climber William McConachie. It's the Sierras, not the Rockies, but I can dream... And look at those leaden skies!

photo credit: William McConachie

What's in a name? ...

2009-01-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

... Looking back on my noodling/thrashing around with titles for my Silver Rush mysteries, I've realized that, in all cases, my first attempts have never quite "hit it."

The first book in the series, Silver Lies, started life as Dead in Leadville. Then ... after some thrashing around ... it became Silver Lies in Leadville. That was quickly shortened to Silver Lies.

The second in the series, Iron Ties, started as Iron and Blood, inspired by a quote from Otto von Bismarck:
"The great questions of the time are not decided by speeches and majority decisions. . . but by iron and blood."
Ooooo, I still love that quote. It's perfect for the book. But, Iron and Blood? What is this, a vampire book or ...? Iron Ties was suggested by a reader, and it works.

But.

I could see where this was heading, and I was a little nervous. Silver, Iron. Lies, Ties. Uh-oh. Elements (metals, in particular) and -ies of some kind. How long could I keep this going?

So, for the third, I tried to make a break, and lit on Lead into Temptation for starters. I liked it because (again) of a quote:

"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." And temptation and evil are core elements of this third book.

But... there were problems. The word "lead" (the element or the verb?) worked into my love of wordplay, but in a title ... confusing. And perhaps too "romance-y" sounding. So, we had to start considering other possibilities. From Lead to Leaden (no confusion on pronunciation there) and ... oh no, here we go ... Leaden what?

Dies, cries, sighs, eyes ...

No, no, no, no ...

Well, it rains a lot in the book. The weather is a curse, but also a blessing (read the book when it comes out, you'll see). Gray gray skies. There we go: Leaden Skies.

So, the die (-ie?) is cast; I've accepted that the "-ies" have it.

Guess I'd better buy a rhyming dictionary.

Leaden Skies in July . . .

2009-01-02T21:35:00.001-08:00

. . . As you may (or may not) know, it can rain ANYTIME up in the Rockies. And, during Ulysses S. Grant's visit to Leadville, Colorado, in July 1880, the weather did everything but cooperate. Rain, sleet, mud, cold ... the weather, according to old newspaper reports, was pretty wretched.

This is just all a lead-in to the announcement (ta-da!) of the next book in my Silver Rush mystery series, titled Leaden Skies, which takes place in Leadville over the five days of Grant's visit and which, serendipitously enough, will be released in July 2009 (let's hope for better weather than Grant had!). To steal the official description:
------
The summer of 1880: although possible investment in Leadville's silver mines is a main reason that former president and Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant is now touring this city at the top of the Rockies, others in his retinue and in town are enticed by other visions. As part owner of the Silver Queen Saloon, Inez Stannert has often observed the ruination that comes from yielding to temptation. Still, that knowledge hasn't stopped Inez from striking a backroom deal with upscale brothel madam Frisco Flo, a deal that Inez gambles will make her financially independent.
--------
And... here's the cover.
Well, sort of.
Ignore the title for now.
Tomorrow, I'll talk about titles, and the transformation of Lead into Temptation into Leaden Skies....

A new start...

2009-01-01T15:01:00.001-08:00

... Okay, let's just ignore the fact that I haven't blogged on this in nearly a year. A lot of water is under the bridge, and it's now 2009.

These are likely to be ultra-short posts, as I have a deadlines looming for a draft of an employee handbook and an edit of a (non-fiction) book on photography.

Tomorrow, I'll do a quickie blog on my upcoming Silver Rush mystery (title: Leaden Skies; publishing date: July 2009).

Until then, here's a photo I took a few years ago (no leaden skies here) in the mining district of Leadville.

Feel the Love....

2008-03-03T18:06:00.000-08:00

For those who might be interested, here are links to my posts on "The Etiquette of Wooing (1880s-style)" that appeared on The Lady Killers blog last month.

Introductions (or... pleased to make your acquaintance...)

Love Letters (or... how do I love thee? Let me note the ways... Circumspectly, of course.)

Courtship (or... Parents be(a)ware.)

Proposals (or... popping THE question. Properly.)

Enjoy! ... and remember to Mind Your Manners!

'Tis the season of... Love

2008-02-05T19:21:00.000-08:00

Ah, February, the month of valentines, flowers... and chocolate! All month long, I'll be providing etiquette tips for wooing and courting, 1880s-style, in my Monday posts on the Ladykiller blog. So drop on by. "Aunt Annie" (aka The Victorian "Miss Manners" aka "Monday's child") will take your comments and questions as she can.

Fa-la-la-la-la

2007-12-19T18:12:00.000-08:00

I've been challenged by a blogging friend who's a knitting fiend to post what I'm doing this week for the holidays. It's hard to get into the spirit with an ever-more expensive hole gaping at us from the ceiling (a mysterious drip-drip-drip has finally made itself known, soaking through sheetrock and all the rest). HOWEVER, I will rise to the challenge. My plans for holiday-ing it up:
1) Make/bake a batch of cookies.
2) Make a batch of fudge.
3) Collect unwanted/unused warm socks, mittens, gloves, scarves, jackets, long underwear etc. from the closets and bring 'em to church on Dec. 24 for "Gifts of Warmth." The items will be handed out to those in shelters and those who are homeless.
4) Listen to all kinds of holiday music REALLY LOUD. Look out, guys in tricked-out cars and booming bass speakers. I plan to blast my way into your sound-space with "Hark the Herald Angels Sing."
.... The other challenge my friend set out was to describe what my character would do for the holidays. Hmmm. What would Inez do? I shall think on that, and report back...

Lady Killer blog ... packing words for Mondays

2007-11-27T22:11:00.000-08:00

Oops! My blogging day is Mondays on the Lady Killers blog. This is good ... I've got some time to think about what words to unpack from my traveling trunk. Until then....

Joining the Lady Killers

2007-11-17T17:08:00.000-08:00

Packing up a few words and

thoughts on this and that and the other.
Or....
Is that a body in that trunk????

I've joined Cara Black, Rhys Bowen, Carola Dunn, Jane Finnis, Mary Anna Evans, and Sharan Newman over at The Lady Killers blog. Tuesday is my day. How does that old nursery rhyme go? Monday's child is fair of face
Tuesday's child is full of grace ....
Strangely enough, "Ann" means "grace." Which I always found rather hilarious. (No one who's seen me step off a curb and break my ankle could accuse me of being graceful!) In any case, I'm glad to be there and hope you'll stop on by and take a look when you get a chance.