Stranger Things in the World #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

March 14, 2022

What is the strangest bit of information you’ve run across while doing research for a story? Or maybe the strangest word?

It’s a wild world out there, and every now and again I stumble across something that reminds me of it. Did you know that it’s possible for a mother’s DNA to not match her children’s? And yet the maternal grandmother’s DNA does match?

We’re not talking adoption or switched at birth here. These are scientifically proven cases. One such case is Lydia Fairchild. The discrepancy in her DNA was discovered as part of a custody case. There’s a short but fascinating Wikipedia article about her case here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Fairchild#:~:text=Lydia%20Fairchild%20(born%201976)%20is,children%2C%20Jamie%20Townsend%2C%20separated.

It turns out she has two different sets of DNA, a condition called chimerism. The DNA from her skin doesn’t match the DNA taken from certain other parts of her body. She’s not the only person known with the condition, but because she had to prove in court that her children were really her children, she is one of the better known examples.

What’s another one? I recently learned the Mormons established a Polynesian colony in Utah. I got this  information through trading critiques with a gifted writer, Marcel Stipetic. When Mormon missionaries went to Hawaii in 1850, they were able to convert some natives, but had no structure in place to support their worship. Some moved to Salt Lake City, but didn’t fit in well. The Mormon Church bought a ranch in Skull Valley, Utah, and set up a township for the Hawaiians to move to. When a temple was built in Hawaii in 1915, most of the colonists returned there.

What makes this more interesting is that some people still refer to the settlement, named Iosepa, as a leper colony. Many of us are familiar with the history of the leper colony in Hawaii, with this being the reverse of the situation. The truth is somewhere in between. While a few cases of leprosy occurred among the settlers, official records say the number of victims was only three.

The area is now a ghost town, with the cemetery being on the National Register of Historic Places.

There are many more strange things I have run across while doing research, and I’m sure I’ll find many more. In fact, I’m going to be checking out the other authors on this hop and find out something new! Just follow the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

March 14, 2022

What is the strangest bit of information you’ve run across while doing research for a story? Or maybe the strangest word?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

 

COVER REVEAL! The Fall Of Jake Hennessey

  By Uncategorized

 

 

Jake Hennessey is always on top of his game, anticipating the next big play… until Harmony Duprie changes everything.

 

When I decided to release “The Fall of Jake Hennessey,” one of the first things I did was to confer with my cover artist, K.M. Guth. I knew I didn’t want the book to look as if it was another Harmony Duprie Mystery because the story is crime/suspense. Still, I wanted to pay tribute to the series, which provided inspiration for this story.

We studied the covers of best sellers and drew ideas for what we wanted and what we didn’t want, and her marvelous brain went to work. Once she’d developed a general concept, it didn’t take her long to bring it to life.

She fiddled with the placement of the graphics and letters, decided what fonts looked the best, and how to pay homage to her earlier designs. I think she’s a genius, and I watched in awe as she pulled all the needed elements together until we were both happy with it.

But before we get to the cover—you haven’t peeked, have you?—here’s a short excerpt.

The flash of metal reflecting a blinking neon beer sign in the front window had Jake on his feet and halfway across the bar in a second.

“Settle down, Duane,” the bartender said, backing up a few feet.

Jake recognized Duane’s type. Too skinny, pockmarks in his face, scabs on his arms, shaking so hard Jake didn’t know how he remained standing. If Duane was crashing, he became doubly dangerous.

Chairs scraped as other customers moved out of reach of the steak knife Duane waved, aiming at everyone and no one. There’d be no happy ending to the situation, at least as far as Jake foresaw. He circled to get in behind Duane.

“Put down the knife,” said one of his friends from several feet away.

“Take it easy,” said the other.

Duane didn’t pay attention. The weapon traced aimless circles in the air. He advanced two steps closer towards the bartender. “Don,” he slurred. “Don cheat me.”

“Nobody’s cheating anybody,” the bartender said. “Put down your knife and go home and sleep it off.”

It was easy to predict Duane’s next move. Jake had seen it repeated too many times. The druggie lunged at the bartender, but Jake reacted first and grabbed his arm. A dangerous maneuver, because tweakers often found bonus strength out of nowhere. He’d been in fights where it took three bouncers to subdue one meth head. Fate was on his side this time. The knife clattered to the floor, and a kick to the back of his knee ensured Duane did, too.

While all hell broke loose, with everyone yelling at Duane and Duane’s friends yelling at everyone else, Jake slipped out the front.

The Fall of Jake Hennessey will be available on April 2nd at the usual retailers.

Now, on to the cover!

 

Speaking in Tongues — Well, Accents, Anyway #Openbook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

March 7, 2022

Can you speak in an accent that isn’t your own? Can any of your characters do this? How do you indicate that in your stories?

I studied French in high school, and Russian in college. (We won’t talk about my short-lived fantasy about working for the CIA.) I got passing grades in both, but wasn’t good at either. (No CIA for me!)

I know what my problem was. I don’t ‘hear’ accents. Well, I hear them, but my brain automatically translates them to the way they sound to me. When I worked as a waitress, I ‘heard past’ the accents of tourists, even those who didn’t speak English as their primary language, and understood what they were saying.  If someone asked me to mimic the accents of my customers, I couldn’t have done it. The translation only works one way.

Now, Harmony Duprie, on the other hand, speaks fluent Southern Belle. (She also knows Latin, but doesn’t use it in conversation.) She picked it up from some of her college friends, and puts it to good use, pretending to be sweet and innocent when she is anything but.

Here are two examples, taken from The Baron’s Cufflinks.

I made a big show out of looking towards Jake. “You mean like a race car driver?” I added a touch of Southern Belle to my act. All I needed was a fan to wave in flutter in front of my face, but I settled for fluttering my eyelashes. “Oh, no, my brother would never forgive me if I let someone else drive his baby. Even someone as good-looking as your friend.”

*****

That was ironic, coming from the man who was playing with Jake’s life. The Southern Belle took over. “Why, whatever are you talking about, Agent?” I asked with as much innocence as I could muster.

*****

Harmony also has to deal with an old French document and its translation in this story, but despite her name, she doesn’t know French. That’s part of the fun.

I don’t do anything special to indicate the use of another language or accent. I just put it out there!

How about our other authors? What do they do about other languages? Just follow the links below to find out.

As always, until  next time, please stay safe.

March 7, 2022

Can you speak in an accent that isn’t your own? Can any of your characters do this? How do you indicate that in your stories?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Jake Is On The Way!

  By Uncategorized

 

Do you love Jake from the Harmony Duprie Mysteries? Well, he finally shared his secrets with me, so I could write his story. The result is The Fall of Jake Hennessey. 

This book is a prequel to the Harmony stories, written from Jake’s point of view. Here’s the description:

Jake Hennessey deals in selling fine jewelry of an illegal nature. The thrill of getting away with it is his addiction. When he hears a rumor about a rare old book in the personal collection of a small-town librarian, he gets the urge to try a new game.

After all, even jewel thieves get bored.

But the librarian, Harmony Duprie, isn’t what he expected and the challenge becomes serious business.

In order to win, Jake’s going to have to play by a new set of rules—and make them up as he goes along—because this time, he’s playing for the rest of his life.

 

Watch for it on April 2nd at all the usual retailers. (Amazon, B&N, Apple, Kobo)

To Write or Not to Write #IWSG

  By IWSG

 

March 2 question – Have you ever been conflicted about writing a story or adding a scene to a story? How did you decide to write it or not?

The awesome co-hosts for the March 2 posting of the IWSG are Janet Alcorn, Pat Garcia, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence!

Someone’s been reading my journal!

When I finished writing my last release, The Ranger’s Dog Tags, I was sure I was done writing the series, The Harmony Duprie Mysteries, and its characters. It felt good. I was ready to move along to a new series and a new challenge.

Then Jake happened.

Jake was one of the secondary characters in the series. Although he appeared in all six books, and attempted to take over a time or two, I never got a good handle on him. It turns out he was waiting for his chance. He wanted me to write his story.

I had my doubts about it and wasn’t sure where he would take me. I figured it would be a short story, and didn’t know what I’d do with it. But, to get him out of my system, I started writing. And it turned into a book.

And I thought, okay, that was fun. But it was a different genre than I’ve written previously, and I didn’t know if it was any good. Or if I should spend time revising it. I wasn’t comfortable with it. Jake insisted.

Then he demanded I put it through a critique group, and it became a stronger story. And nudged me to send it off to my editor. Still, I wasn’t committed.

My cover artist designed a brilliant cover, and I realized I couldn’t put off a decision. Yet, I procrastinated.

Last Saturday, I took the plunge, and revealed a release date in my newsletter. I’m still not 100% sure I know what I am doing. I’m as nervous about this book as I was about my first one. But on April 2, 2022, The Fall of Jake Hennessey will be available.

Since you’ve made it this far, it’s only fair that I give you a hint about what the book is about.  So here’s the blurb:

Jake Hennessey deals in selling fine jewelry of an illegal nature. The thrill of getting away with it is his personal addiction. When he hears a rumor about a rare old book in the personal collection of a small-town librarian, he gets the urge to try a new game.

After all, even jewel thieves get bored.

But the librarian, Harmony Duprie, isn’t what he expected and the challenge becomes serious business.

In order to win, Jake’s going to have to play by a new set of rules—and make them up as he goes along—because this time, he’s playing for the rest of his life.

Don’t forget to check out the other authors on this hop. Just follow the links below.

And, as always, until next time, please stay safe.

Bookmarks or Turning the Corners? #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Feb 28, 2022

Let’s start a war. Do you dog-ear books or use a bookmark? Do you ever make notes in your books?

Warning: My original major in college was library science. I volunteered as a library aide in elementary and high school, and I worked part-time as a librarian for a few years. There should be no surprise at my answer.

Please, please, do not fold the corners of your books! Especially not a library book. Find a piece of scrap paper if you need to mark your spot and don’t have a bookmark. A piece of napkin, or ribbon or yarn, and if it comes down to extreme measures, a tissue.

I’ve found postcards and grocery lists and recipes in books I’ve borrowed. All of those are perfectly acceptable. But I’ve also run across books with page after page of folded-down corners—not just one or two and I want to scream!

And let’s talk about making notes in books. I recently bought a used book – fiction – where on the first page, almost every sentence, almost every word, was underlined. And the second page was in similar condition. After that, nothing. I don’t get it. There’s no logic to it. Did the previous owner suddenly stop reading the book after two pages? But what was so gripping about those first two pages that didn’t carry through to the rest of the story. I don’t understand.

It’s not like it was a textbook. I can understand underlining, highlighting, and making notes in a textbook. But this was a mystery, part of a well-known series. (Not mine!) Can someone explain this phenonomen to me?

As you can tell, I am a proponent of book marks. I have lots of them, in different shapes, sizes and style. Don’t worry, I didn’t lose my place in any books by pulling the bookmarks out to take the picture. They all came from books I’ve finished. I have a habit of storing my bookmarks in a book instead of on a shelf or in a drawer. They are better protected that way. I’ve had some of these for twenty or so years.

How many bookmarks do I own? Who knows? I would have to flip through the pages of every book I own to see if I left one there. That’s not going to happen.

Bookmarks can be cheap giveaways, or they can be tokens of someone’s love. When it comes to your personal books, I’ll look away if you dog-ear or write notes in them. But please, for the sake of everyone else, please don’t do that to a library book or a book you’ve borrowed from a friend!

Let’s hear from the other authors on this loop. Just follow the links below. And you can chime in too, readers. Talk to me in the comments.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Feb 28, 2022

Let’s start a war. Do you dog-ear books or use a bookmark? Do you ever make notes in your books?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Killing Them (My Characters) Softly #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Feb 21, 2022

What’s the worst wound (emotional or physical) one of your characters has ever had to deal with? How did you react to writing the scene?

I get attached to my characters, both the good and the not-so-good. But if I don’t hurt them, there won’t be a story that anyone wants to read. I also have to consider whether killing off a character for the sake of the storyline will turn readers off and make them stop reading.

That’s the dilemma with every story. How far can I go and remain true to the characters?

For example, I considered killing off Eli Hennessey, Harmony’s love interest,  before I started writing the last book in the Harmony Duprie Mysteries. I felt like the series was getting stale and needed either a radical reset or to end it. Killing Eli would certainly have reset things, but I didn’t feel it would be true to the overall tone of the stories. I decided to approach it differently.

I placed the phone on the table, then set my hands on my lap to hide them. I clenched and unclenched my fists. Clenched them again. My fingernails dug into my palms. I forced the words from my constricted throat.

“Eli is missing.”

                                                                                                                            From The Ranger’s Dog Tags

That set the scene for giving Harmony the worst time of her life. Sure, Eli had disappeared before, but instinct told her this time was different. He’d been at safely at home and in his bed, and then he wasn’t. And no one, not Harmony, not his friends, not his parents, not even the cops could locate him.

To make matters worse, Harmony found herself in charge of Eli’s company, putting additional pressure on her in a time of crisis. I’d love to tell you more, but I can’t without this post becoming filled with spoilers. You’ll have to go buy the book, if you haven’t already!

But I will give you a few hints. Eli’s houses (both of them) are set on fire. Harmony is stalked and ends up living with an ATF agent. She pulls a Bootlegger’s 180 in the middle of I-4, the interstate that runs east-west through the middle of Florida. Since it’s Florida, there’s the threat of a hurricane. (It wouldn’t be Florida without a hurricane, mosquitos, tourists, and humidity.) And a recurring character close to Harmony dies.

I had fun writing this book, but I also hated myself. The box of tissues on my desk had to be replaced more than once. I carefully weighed each torture I put Harmony through to decide if it was really necessary. Sometimes, I had to stop writing and give myself a day or two to gather the strength to continue—or figure out how to get it right. (At least that’s the excuse I could use when I had temporary writer’s block.) Knowing that I had the ability to give Harmony her happy ending is what let me feel free to put her through the tough times.

I suspect that’s true for most authors. We don’t enjoy writing the terrible things we write about. (Okay, there may be a few exceptions.) But don’t take my word for it. Follow the links below and find out what dreadful things the other authors on this hop have imposed on their characters. But before you go, I’d love it if you would leave a comment.

As always, until next time, please stay safe!

Feb 21, 2022

What’s the worst wound (emotional or physical) one of your characters has ever had to deal with? How did you react to writing the scene?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

Writing Tools – What’s Your Favorite? #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Feb 14, 2022

We talked about the tools we use for our blogs awhile back. How about for your writing in general? What are your favorite tools?

The list keeps growing as new tools come on the market and more people discover that they can make money helping authors achieve their goals. But my forever favorites are what I started with—the simple paper and pen, but I don’t use them often.

I wrote the first draft of The Ranger’s Dog tags entirely by hand, a luxury I rarely allow myself. It took fifteen tablets, single-sided, and five or six pens. I took the picture when I was about two-thirds of the way through the rough manuscript.

But as much as I love it, writing by hand is more time-consuming. Did I name that character six chapters ago Derik or Daryll? Finding the right tablet, let alone the right page to confirm, is problematic. And everything has to be typed before I can begin editing. Seeing the words on the screen provides a different perspective.

Before I get into the computer process, I want to mention two other tools—a dictionary and a thesaurus. Sure, I know they are available on-line, but the act of turning pages in a paper thesaurus helps me track down words in a way that a computer can’t. I use the computer more for spelling and definitions, but the paper dictionary is kept close.

Moving on to the computer—let’s start with basic word processing programs. I use LibreOffice, a free program similar to Microsoft Office. It’s fine for basic writing, although it doesn’t mimic some of the profession tool of MS Office. I don’t use them anyway, so it doesn’t matter. The one thing I haven’t mastered in LibreOffice is paragraph indents throughout a whole document. I have instructions, but I can’t make them work.

Another often-overlooked tool is Notepad. I use it for quick research notes, and to copy things that have annoying formatting attached that won’t go away. It’s fast and easy and comes with no strings attached.

I’m a big fan of ProWritingAid. I received a lifetime subscription to it for Christmas a few years ago. After having used the free version, I can testify how much easier it is to use the full program. No word limits! Sure, there are things it gets wrong, but I love how it helps me track down repeated words and phrases.

What else? I use the website Canva for quick graphics. I don’t claim to be good at it, but I can throw together something easy, even if it takes me too long. Two websites I use for free pictures and graphics are Pixabay and Pexals. I use Inlinkz for this hop. (They provide the script that links our websites together. Sadly, it isn’t free.)

CritiqueCircle is my go-to site for on-line critiques. The quality may vary, but I have received some excellent help on there from other writers.

Which leads me to my final ‘tool.’ Perhaps a better word would be ‘resource.’ Here’s to all the wonderful people I’ve met along the way who have helped to support me, especially other writers. They’ve help me find the confidence to try my hand at this whole writing thing.

That’s why I’m looking forward to everyone else’s post this week and finding what treasure they may share. You can too, by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Feb 14, 2022

We talked about the tools we use for our blogs awhile back. How about for your writing in general? What are your favorite tools?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

 

The Best of the Bad #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

 

Feb 7, 2022

What character have you created that you despise/hate the most?

Every hero needs a villain and I’ve created my share of both. 

Now, I prefer to spend more time and energy on my heroes and the bad guys get shoved into the background. That makes sense for my mysteries, because the reader doesn’t get to know who they are until the end of the story. It would ruin things for the reader if I revealed the identity of the antagonist too soon.

But my characters have minds of their own, and I’ve had good guys reveal themselves as bad guys and vice versa. So, when I’m asked which of my villains I despise the most, it’s hard to decide. I’ve got a long list to choose from. The one that sticks out is one that I wrote as a minor hero for most of the story, Henry Fairwood of Wolves’ Pawn.

I envisioned Henry as the strong and benevolent leader of a wolf pack of shapeshifters, existing in a modern world and hiding their dual nature. His job was to protect the pack and its members against all enemies. He throws off a very 1950s patriarchal feeling, but he is also trying to bring pack politics into a more up-to-date structure.

However, he  sometimes imposes his will to make things go smoothly. And that’s where the villainy comes in. Because what happens when he has to hurt one person for the good of the others? It can be an impossible choice.

That’s the situation I put Henry in. But he took it a step farther and deliberately hurt my main character to gain an unneeded edge in an old feud and elevate his own standing. No, he doesn’t kill anyone, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t attempt to destroy a life.

What makes me pick him as my most despised? How easily he slid into the role of antagonist after being a good guy for most of the story. I hadn’t planned or expected it, but there it was. The story needed the twist and my protagonist became stronger because of it. The hero needed the villain.

You can find more information about the book HERE. 

What villains to the other authors on this hop despise? I’m looking forward to finding out. Just follow the links below. 

And, as always, please stay safe until the next time we meet. 

Feb 7, 2022

What character have you created that you despise/hate the most?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

“Misfits, Rebels, and Malcontents.” Best Lines #OpenBook

  By Open Book
 
Jan 31, 2022
 
Share some of your favorite lines from your writing. How about some of your worst ones if you still remember them?

“Misfits, rebels, and malcontents.”

That’s my favorite line from the book Wolves’ Gambit. It’s how a wolf from a traditional pack described the members of the members of the loosely knit organization called the Free Wolves. It’s the story of Lori Grenville, who has made it her life’s mission to help unhappy shifters escape from overbearing alphas and dangerous situations. Another of my favorite lines from that story is “But the years of fighting and fleeing had scarred her, and hope didn’t belong in her vocabulary. Only plans and action.”

Sometimes, I get lucky and good lines come to me. More often, I have to revise several times to get the words just right. Take this little piece from The Baron’s Cufflinks, the third book in the Harmony Duprie Mysteries. “I recognized the technique—he hoped the silence would make me uncomfortable and I would say more. It didn’t work. I waited. He sighed.” I can’t tell you how many times I revised those words. They didn’t even exist in my first draft.

I had lots of fun writing my current work-in-progress, called The Fall of Jake Hennessey, because Jake and Harmony match wits throughout the story. There’s a scene where they trade pick-up lines.

“I’m going to need you to step away from the freezer, Jake. You’re melting the ice,” she said with a grin.
He should have known she wouldn’t give up easily. She’d beat him at this game, but he’d make his best shot with lines he remembered from high school. “Did you just come out of the oven? Because you’re too hot to handle.”
The grin got bigger, and she waggled her eyebrows. “That’s a nice shirt. Can I talk you out of it?”
“If you were a library book, I’d check you out,” he replied, putting on his poker face.
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know whether to give you extra points for that one because it’s relevant, or take one away because I’ve heard it more than once. But here’s mine. You’re so hot, you must be the cause of global warming.”

I haven’t decided on a release date for the story yet, but it’s coming soon.

Now for the worst lines. Most of them I manage to forget after they’ve been erased. What I do have are some entire scenes that I deleted, and I won’t impose them on my readers. I don’t think anyone wants to read over a thousand words of Jake overseeing a furniture delivery, or a deleted love interest for Tasha in Wolves’ Knight.

But here’s a short one to close out. Back to where we started – this is from a deleted scene from Wolves’ Gambit.

Conversation in the room resumed and the guard, after giving the pitcher back to Princess, retook his position. She gulped, but found the courage to fill the rest of the water glasses before scuttling back to the bar.

Want to find out the best and worst lines from other authors? Come with me and follow the links below. And, as always, until next time, please stay safe!

 
Jan 31, 2022
 
Share some of your favorite lines from your writing. How about some of your worst ones if you still remember them?
 
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter