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Please stop by and say hello!  We have a review of our Anatomy of a Mystery event held at BookPeople posted and more.  Look forward to seeing you there!

AMW Sponsors FREE Fiction Workshop @BookPeople!

Have you ever wanted to write crime fiction?  Or, want to learn more about how your favorite authors create those fast-paced plots and complicated characters that manage to keep you up all night reading? 

Come to our FREE special one day event:  Anatomy of a Mystery @ BookPeople on Saturday, November 9th, 2013 from 9:30am-3:00pm.

Our panel of highly-acclaimed mystery novelists will give you the inside scoop on what it takes to create some of today’s most memorable mysteries. Janice Hamrick, Karen MacInerney and Reavis Z Wortham will cover topics ranging from plotting and characterization to how to balance action and humor in crime fiction.  

Special Bonus:  First 25 attendees receive a FREE Austin Mystery Writers notepad and pen, plus a chance to win a free AMW tote along with other raffle items including books and more!

Schedule:

Doors open at 9:00am


Reavis Z. Wortham, Balancing Action, Humor and Pacing, 9:30-10:30am

Karen MacInerney, The Nuts & Bolts of Mysteries, 11:00am-noon

Lunch Break 12:00-1:00pm

Janice Hamrick, The Craft of Creating Interesting Characters, 1:00pm-2:00pm

Panel Discussion with Authors, 2:15pm-3:00pm

If you love reading crime fiction or want to learn how to write a mystery, this is the event for you!

Questions? Please contact Laura Oles at laura@lauraoles.com.

Austin Mystery Writers

AMW Sponsors FREE Crime-Writing Workshop!

An Evening with Laurie R. King

BookPeople in Austin, Texas, always has an impressive schedule of author events on the calendar, so it can be difficult to decide which ones to attend.   When Laurie R. King’s name appeared on the roster, I cleared my schedule for that evening (well, after hustling kids to soccer practice, helping with homework, cooking dinner, you get the idea) and made my way to Lamar Blvd.

I had the pleasure of meeting Laurie at this year’s Malice Domestic conference in Maryland.  She was funny and kind and extremely gracious with her time.  As the conference’s chosen Guest of Honor for Malice Domestic 2013,  she still found a way to make time for every person hoping for a moment of her attention.   There are few things more wonderful than realizing a favorite author is also a gem of a human being. 

Laurie discussed her latest novel, The Bones of Paris, which is set in the City of Light at the end of the 1920’s.  When asked why she chose this particular time, Laurie said, “The end of the decade was when things began to fall apart, and I find that to be much more interesting for a crime writer.” 

The Bones of Paris received a starred review from Booklist and Publisher’s weekly was equally kind with its praise.  Exploring the dark underbelly of Paris’ Jazz Age through the eyes of Harris Stuyvesant will have readers up all night in anticipation of what he discovers next.  While Mary Russell remains a crowd favorite, it’s clear that Harris Stuyvesant will garner loyal readers as well.  After all, there’s room on our nightstands for more than one compelling King protagonist. 

When asked by an audience member how she was able to juggle writing multiple series, she answered that she found herself easily bored and preferred switching from one project to an entirely different one.  Loyal King readers are thankful for this view as it gives us a broader range of stories from which to choose and affords us the opportunity to experience King’s storytelling prowess in numerous ways.

Laurie can’t speak in public without someone asking her about her decision to take on the character of Sherlock Holmes through her vision with Mary Russell.  She confesses that early on, she was surprised by the uproar from some Holmes fans.  She says that one message board started flaming her on the Internet, back in the early days of such boards, but that she wasn’t on the Internet so all their disparaging efforts went on without her knowledge, something that still brings a smile to her face.  “They were getting all worked up and I had no idea for the longest time,” she says with a grin.

In truth, she was fascinated by the idea of taking many of Holmes’ traits and seeing how they would manifest in a young, intelligent woman who would stand as his peer.  She was interested in “how it would be the same and how it would be different.”   Needless to say, the success of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice captured the imagination of those who loved Sherlock Holmes as well as those who loved the idea that she would take the character and explore him through more current times and with compelling twists on the classic detective.

One question that often comes up at such events--from curious writers-- involves the debate between being an ‘outliner’ or ‘pantser,’ which has since evolved into the ‘organized vs. organic debate.’  Want to know under which camp Laurie King falls?

While she does take notes on certain scenes or particular characters, Laurie finds it best to write organically.   In fact, she co-authored a book with Michelle Spring titled the Arvon Book of Crime and Thriller Writing, which details the two authors’ differing approaches to crafting a novel.

She says her first drafts are often “300 page outlines with characters disappearing and such.”  Struggling novice novelists will be grateful to hear that someone with King’s writing chops turns out a less than perfect first draft.  She does write 1,500-2,000 words per day until she hits a slowing point, which signals that she has more ‘back of the mind’ work to do in figuring out what happens next in the story.  She finds it best not to continue to force the writing and uses the slowed pace as a signal that more questions need to be answered before continuing.

When asked which authors she currently enjoys reading, King offers up Lyndsay Faye.  “She’s such a talented writer.  I loved the Gods of Gotham.” She also gives kind mention to Tony Broadbent, author of the Smoke series featuring Jethro, a jewel thief and cat burglar. 

King is hard at work on her next projects and promises that we will see more of Mary Russell in the future as well as other characters that have captured her imagination (and ours).  King readers can rest assured that whatever the author brings next, it will be well worth the wait.

To learn more about Laurie R. King, visit www.laurierking.com.
--Laura Oles

A Knotty Problem

Yesterday Dominica felt faint, and Molly, my main character, steered her to a bench on the courthouse lawn and then dithered over what to do. She couldn't leave Dominica, but she thought asking a passerby (of which there were none at the time) for help sounded lame.

Today, talking about treatments for migraines, one of my brilliant critique partners took a bottle of peppermint oil from her purse and passed it around. At the first whiff, I said, "Molly carries peppermint oil in her purse! She'll use it to revive Dominica."

In one fell swoop, I both saddled Molly with migraines and solved a knotty problem.

That is why I go to critique group.

--Kathy Waller

http://kathywaller1.com

Kaye George Returns to Texas

The members of Austin Mystery Writers were clustered at their literary haunt in the BookPeople café on Thursday morning, eagerly awaiting the arrival of famed author and Grand Poobah emerita Kaye George. 

“Gosh,” I said to the group. “I hope she remembers the little people.”

I need not have worried. With all her usual charm and warmth, Kaye George appeared wearing a big fedora, carrying a giant magnifying glass, and blinding us with her dazzling smile.

We had missed Kaye George. Once a guiding beacon in AMW in Austin, she had moved to Waco, then Knoxville, Tennessee, too far away to attend the weekly critique group meetings.

However, that didn’t stop Kaye from being an active participant in AMW. She’s still a major player in the group, we’re glad to say.

Kaye George has been an inspiration to fellow writers. She fought hard to become a published author, always refusing to give up her dream of publication. Her organizational skills are truly amazing. She blogs, writes short stories and books, and participates in panel discussions and book tours. In fact, she’s on her way to the upcoming Killer Nashville conference. She is a force to be reckoned with (yes, ending with a preposition, but it sounds good).

Kaye's first novel, CHOKE, was published in 2011 and was nominated for an Agatha award for Best First Novel.  In 2012, she added the sequels SMOKE and BROKE to her new series, the Imogene Duckworthy humorous Texas mysteries.  In April 2013, EINE KLEINE MURDER (a Cressa Caraway Musical Mystery) was published by Barking Rain Press.  In June, her Neanderthal mystery thriller, DEATH IN THE TIME OF ICE, was published by Untreed Reads.  Kaye hopes to have an audio version of CHOKE available this fall, as well as a boxed set of the Duckworthy mysteries.

Kaye has a three-book contract with Berkeley Prime Crime and is hard at work to complete her first finished Fat Cat cozy mystery by September 15. She will write this series using the nom de plume Janet Cantrell.

http://kayegeorge.com

--Gale Albright

Janice Hamrick and Death Rides Again

By Kathy Waller

The day Eddy Cranny got himself murdered started bad and went downhill from there . . . especially for Eddy. ~ Janice Hamrick, Death Rides Again

When I reached the second floor of BookPeople for the June 19th launch of Death Rides Again, Janice Hamrick’s latest mystery novel, my day turned around and started uphill at a gallop.

Janice, who lives in Austin, made news in the writing–and reading–communities when the manuscript of her first book, Death on Tour, won the 2010 Mystery Writers of America/Minotaur Books First Crime Novel Competition. Published in 2011, the novel was nominated for the 2012 Mary Higgins Clark Award and the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award.

In 2012, Janice followed Death on Tour with Death Makes the Cut. Now she presents the third in the Jocelyn Shore series, Death Rides Again.

Critics have been complimentary. So have readers. From her tour of Egypt, to the high school where she teaches, to a family reunion at her Uncle Kel’s ranch, main character Jocelyn Shore has a talent for solving murders and gathering fans as she goes.

At the book launch, Scott Montgomery, Crime Fiction Coordinator of MysteryPeople, BookPeople’s store-within-a-store, interviewed Janice before an audience of mystery lovers. This was the second time I’ve seen the two together: at last fall’s Texas Book Festival, Janice appeared on a panel Scott moderated. The subject was using humor in mysteries, something Janice does well. (See quotation from book, above.)

Kathy's Copious Notes =)

I took copious notes, as I always do on such occasions. The conversation ranged far and wide, however, and my notes comprise two pages of scrawl, on the diagonal, a series of jottings devoid of connective tissue. Turning them into paragraphs would take several hours and considerable energy (for reason, see “Why I Am Not a Journalist”), so I’ll share a few bullets:

·       Janice got the idea for Death on Tour from a trip she made to Egypt (during which no one was murdered). The idea for Death Rides Again came from a setting–her family’s ranch near Brady.

·       Some reviewers class the Jocelyn Shore novels as cozy mysteries; others don’t. Janice is glad the books aren’t easily categorized. She describes them as funny but hopes they have more depth than the typical cozy.

·       Asked what she learned while writing the series, she said that between Death on Tour and Death Makes the Cut, she learned, “I can do it.”

·       She’s working on another book–not a Jocelyn Shore–but she doesn’t talk about that one yet.

·       Janice rises about 5:00 a.m. and writes before going to work. She sets out to write 1500 words a week: 300 words a day, five days a week. On a bad day, she says, she can produce 300 words and feel okay. On a good day, she can “blast right through” her goal.

Now this is where things get personal. I began this post by saying my day went uphill because I attended the book launch.

Goals have never been my friends. 

Most people find them energizing. To me, setting goals is stimulus for digging in my heels, heading off at a 45-degree angle from the rest of the group. When my CP, who likes goals and thinks I should like them too, makes me set some for the coming week, I growl, scribble in my notebook–almost, but not quite, singing Nyah nyah nyah to myself–and then ignore them.

But Janice’s description of her 300-word goal–low enough to attain and feel good about, low enough to sometimes blast right through–spoke to me. Her system is so logical, so sensible, so humane. Sitting there in that folding chair, I heard the little light bulb above my head click on, and I said to myself, Well, d’oh.

So, on that basis, I’ve decided to jump into Round 3 of  A Round of Words in 80 Days, the writing challenge that knows you have a life, with the following goal:

·       I will write 1500 words a week: 300 words a day, five days a week;

and this stipulation:

·       I will not rise at 5:00 a.m. to get the job done.

Now back to the book launch:

The question on the mind of nearly everyone in the audience was, What happens next?

When you’ve spent quality time with a character like Jocelyn, gotten to know her and her family, watched her fall in–and maybe out–of love, deal with matters of life and death, turn shaky post-divorce self-esteem to strong self-confidence–you don’t want the relationship to end. Three books, the number Janice contracted to write, aren’t enough.

So what might influence Janice’s publisher to ask for a fourth Jocelyn Shore novel?

Here’s Janice’s answer: Buy the book! 

***

You can follow Janice’s blog at blog.janicehamrick.com.

The Jocelyn Store mysteries are available from booksellers listed on Janice’s website.

On Saturday, July 20, Janice and Hopeton Haye, host of KAZI Book Review, will appear at the Pflugerville Library for an interactive discussion about the Jocelyn Shore series, mysteries, and writing. On Saturday, August 31, she will sign copies of her books at the Round Rock Barnes & Noble.

***

For more information about A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80) click here.

To read what other ROW80 participants are writing, click here.