Autumn

It really feels like autumn this morning. I thought that, as I stood outside in my nightgown and a windbreaker, watching firefighters work on the second local housefire in two weeks.

Oh, yeah, and I thought, 'I need to get a new battery for my smoke detector.'

I'm always of two distinct feelings as autumn closes in, days getting shorter and nights getting longer and colder. On the one hand, I hate to see nice weather leave because I love sitting out in the garden with a cup of tea or glass of wine. 

On the other hand, autumn and winter bring their own joys. I like 'autumn' foods, heartier fare and yummy holiday treats. Oh, and roast turkey... yum! I also get back to crafting: crocheting, painting, needlework, etc. But most of all, autumn brings with it a 'back to work' mentality that really helps me get a lot done. I don't feel like I'm missing out on outdoor activities when the weather is as cold, windy and rainy as it has been the last few days.

What do you like about autumn?

(By the way... no one was hurt in the fire, the second in our neighborhood in two weeks, but what an eye-opener at five in the morning... standing outside in 6 Degrees Celsius... brrrrr!)

Building a Mystery

I have been thinking a lot, lately, about what goes into a successful mystery series. Some of the questions I've asked myself have to do with character, plots, setting, complications, conflict, etc. As the title of this entry says, ultimately, I've been considering what goes into building a mystery. (That's also the title of a Sarah McLachlan song, FYI!)

So I thought I'd do a 'miniseries' of blog entries on my own particular approach to planning and writing a mystery series. This is as much for my own benefit, as for anyone else's. I think it helps to pause every once and a while to look at how you do things and figure out if the approach is working for you.

I'll say right up front, for real advice on how to write a mystery, go to one of the fabulous books or sites for help. I'll do a little research and come up with a list for you. This is more my own, weird, eclectic, peripatetic, wandering, willful way of going about building a mystery series.

Some topics will be:
1 - Where Do I Begin? How I start when I'm planning a series.
2 - Character. How do I decide who my protagonist will be, as well as peopling the world.
3 - Place. Where to set the series?
4 - Will It Fit? Do all of the aforementioned things work for the kind of mystery I'm planning?

And anything else I think of as I'm going along.

If you have any questions, chime in!!

The Companion Pieces

I've enthused on and on about my perfect teapot, and I'm still getting a kick out of it, and the 'sweater' (cozy) I crocheted for it. But this summer I also was on the hunt for a nice sugar and cream to go with it. I've been using a melamine sugar bowl that just felt too 'summery' and picnicky, if you know what I mean.

I had some guidelines: the sugar was most important, so it had to be perfect. The creamer, not so much, since I rarely use it; unless I have company, I usually use milk out of the fridge for my tea. I don't care for matchy-matchy, so I didn't really care about a set. Vintage was preferable, but I had to love them both. I'm cheap, so I didn't want to pay a lot.

That last bit is why I didn't end up buying the cream and sugar I really love, which is a vintage Pyrex Snowflake set, hard to find, even online, and horribly expensive if it comes complete with the sugar lid. By horribly expensive I mean twenty plus dollars, plus shipping. That's pricey, to my cheap li'l ole heart. 

 Anyway, I found both a cream and sugar at an antique mall, the sugar is vintage (I believe) but the cream isn't... not really. They are not a set, but I think it all looks kinda pretty 'shabby chic-ish' together.

So, the sugar is a vintage piece with no markings... I just love the colors and the shape. It was five dollars, cheap at twice the price! Not! I like it, but I wouldn't have paid more than that fiver.

If you look in the photo, you can see one of my cats peering over the edge of the picnic table at it, wondering why I'm not letting him up on the table! LOL.

The creamer I got was only two dollars, and it is Wedgwood Tigerlily! Amazing... this piece is worth ten times more than I paid, and that's the kind of math I love.

So... do you prefer 'sets'... things that match? Or do you, like me, have kind of oddball tastes and like variety?

   

This last photo is just because she's cute... my friend's cat, and I call the photo 'Reba Wants Cheese' because that's what she's beggin for!!

Happy September, everyone!!

The Perfect Teapot

Some time ago I blogged about my hunt for the perfect teapot, and this summer I found it! I knew I'd know it when I saw it, and I saw it and knew it. It was in a little shop in a town called Sparta, in Southwestern Ontario. You can find wonderful candles - the smell of the place is out of this world -  there too, and rooms and rooms of fascinating stuff! http://www.spartacandles.com/

My day trip to Sparta was a lot of fun, and we had tea at a great tearoom. The owner, an Englishwoman with a lovely accent, is an avid collector of teapots, and in the following days I'm going to share some of the photos I took of her fabulous collection! I'm envious to the max, but I'd never have room for her 350 beautiful teapots.

Anyway, on to my own acquisition... isn't my new teapot lovely?

What makes it perfect? Well, it's new, so I don't have to worry about hairline cracks or fractures in a vintage or antique pot. It's an oblong shape I like, it is capacious. And dang, but it's pretty! The pattern is kind of an Indian scene typical in English porcelain.

It's so pretty, I crocheted it its own sweater! Check out the tea cozy I made up. Now I just have to finish it off with some cute dangles from the ties, some teacup charms, or something. I was going to do pom poms, but then I thought, I'm going to need to wash this at some point, and poms have a way of disintegrating.

However... the cozy doesn't really keep the tea warm for long. I'm considering going on to create another layer on the inside. I'll debate that, while I go on to other projects.

So, does finding the perfect treasure makes you want to redo your decor, or find a special spot for your lovely acquisition??

Antiquing... what's the vintage equivalent?

Well, vacation - such as it was - is over. Too hot to do much, so what time I did spend doing anything was either in a friend's pool, or vintage-hunting. I know people call it 'antiquing', as in "I'm going antiquing with the girls this weekend", but I don't buy many antiques, mostly vintage. So what to call it... 'vintaging'?

Anyway, in the weeks to come I will be photographing and writing about my various finds - not that many, really, because of small space and low budget - but some pretty little things. I don't worry much about being 'matchy-matchy', so my new teapot, sugar bowl and creamer are all different patterns! But so pretty together... kinda shabby chic!

See you soon!!

Writing Inspiration - Reading for Writers

Do you read while you write?

That's a question I'd like to ask all the other mystery writers out there.

Time is a factor, or course. When I'm in the midst of writing a book, sometimes all I have time to do is write. My only reading is confined to research, and I collapse at the end of a long day, staring at the idiots who inhabit Reality TV-Land, as they squabble about their tiny lives.

But right now I'm working on the planning of a new series. I don't take that lightly; I believe that the planning stages are what will sustain you through the series, every layer you plan adding to the depth of your characters. I'm cautiously optimistic, but there have been some bumps along the way. Then who should come along to help me out, but Dame Agatha herself!!

I'm serious! 

I read Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks... no, not the actual notebooks, but the book by John Curran. What I found was, while reading the book I was reminded of all the many methods writers have to conceal evidence, misdirect, and mislead. No one was better at that than the Queen of Mystery herself! I am not lifting any of her methods or tricks, but reading through her thought processes (weird how familiar the notes feel, sometimes; I can see her thinking things through on paper, like I do. Too bad I will never achieve her level of brilliance!!) illuminates a path that all mystery writers must tread, eventually. How can we successfully conceal the perp and his or her motives from the reader?

But lately I started reading Roberta Isleib's 'Asking for Murder', one of her advice column mysteries. And darned if it didn't have the same affect, but in a vastly different way! If you've never read the series, I urge you to pick up the books, starting with the first one, Deadly Advice.  

Here's what I've figured out, about why her book has triggered such a flood of creativity. A truly great mystery writer inspires me, reminding me that while any mystery novel is of course, ultimately about the mystery, at its core a mystery novel is also about the affect of trauma on the human heart, and how the investigation is inevitably cluttered and complicated by the secrets of the soul, the rich interweaving of human experience that is both our glory and sometimes, our downfall. It's all about the people, and their interactions.

I do so loooove writing mysteries!

Sum-sum-summertime!

Why does time seem to fly so quickly in the summertime? I can't believe my last post was July Fourth... incredible.

Summer and vacation go together so well, especially for us northerners. Summer is fleeting, and we want to make the best of every moment. Over at Killer Characters, Jaymie Leighton (from my Vintage Kitchen Mystery series) is musing on the perfect summertime destination for someone who lives in a tourist town. So I thought I would offer a poll... I'm curious... what is YOUR ideal summertime vacation spot?

Let me know!!! And if I haven't offered you the right answer, leave me a comment!

Poll results:

Where is your ideal summertime vacation spot?

Happy Fourth!

Enjoy the day, my friends. I will be spending it reflecting on two countries, alike in wealth (relative to the rest of the world) and freedom and both blessed with a strong and diverse populace.

On this Fourth of July weekend, I celebrate the unique bond between the United States of America and Canada, friends with the longest unprotected border in the world.

Today in Queensville, MI, hometown of Vintage Kitchen Mysteries: Jaymie Leighton and her sister Becca are gathering with their friends at Boardwalk Park to watch the annual sail race from Heartbreak Island, in the middle of the St. Clair river, down to Fawn Island and back. They'll talk, picnic, laugh and later watch the fireworks over the river and sing the Star Spangled Banner.

Planning for the Glorious Fourth: http://www.killercharacters.com/2011/06/planning-for-glorious-fourth.html

Writing in a Vacuum

No, not a Hoover.

Speaking of old vacuums, just for a moment. Long ago when I was in my first apartment, I got from somewhere one of those hideous old heavy cannisters, you know the ones. The design was actually beautiful; it had a teal steel body and fabric hose and lots of chrome. Trouble was, it didn't suck. It actually left MORE dirt on the carpet than when I started.

But that's not the kind of vacuum I'm talking about.

I've been super fortunate in signing a three book deal for the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, and I am now writing book 2, working title Bowled Over. I'll have book 3 done by the end of the year. Now, writing a series, when you are carrying the same main characters all the way through, requires a character arc, some kind of logical progression in the characters' lives. I love that part of the job.

However... it is very much about writing in a vacuum. I have almost zero input from others on how the characters work. All I can do, at this point, is make their lives logical, interesting and move them forward.

So... what is important to you, as a reader, or writer, about the character arc in your favorite mystery series? When there is a love interest, do you want the love to move forward quickly, or do you not want a resolution too quickly? What about love triangles... love them or loathe them?

I'm interested!

New Killer Characters post: The Glorious Fourth!

Hi all... I'm deep in final edits for Bowled Over, Book Two of the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries series, and it covers the Fourth of July. I'm looking up vintage potato salad recipes, and my characters are watching fireworks, among other things, soooo... you will understand this next bit!

Come on over to Killer Characters today, where Jaymie Leighton discusses the different way Canadians and Americans celebrate their countries' birth!

http://www.killercharacters.com/2011/06/planning-for-glorious-fourth.html